Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger
by HollowKU
Summary: After winning the Unova League, Ash Ketchum returns to Pallet Town, before he can challenge the Elite Four in three months. However, he didn't know that he has to overcome his most difficult challenge until now: defeating himself from another dimension, who results to be Red, resident of Mt. Silver and Champion of the Kanto region. Slight Advanceshipping.
1. Between Worlds

**Hi, FanFiction Members! My name is HollowKU and this is my first Pokémon fic and my first fic in a LOOONG time. Right now I'm on vacations so I decided to return to active duty with this Pokémon fic. Oh, by the way, the events that are in this fic are between the Game world and the anime world, not the Manga and the anime. With that being said, I think it's time for the fic!**

**Pokémon belongs to Game Freak and Nintendo, along with its characters, but this story belongs to me =).**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 1: Between Worlds**

Snow and cold. Two words that represents exactly the view at the top of Mt. Silver. Only very powerful Pokémon Trainers can survive the horrible weather of the mountain and the most powerful wild Pokémon that exists within the Kanto and Johto region. At the top of the mountain, resides a very powerful trainer, who has dedicated his life into training and stay away from most of people after he defeated the most powerful trainers of the Kanto region years ago.

At the top of the mountain, the mysterious trainer was watching the cloudy and dark sky, after the typical intense training with his Pokémon. He had time to think in what to do with his life during this break-time he had before continuing with the training. He had achieved what many trainers couldn't: strength, wisdom, but above all, love for his Pokémon. He respected them and treated them as his friends, his partners. He was sick of trainers that only searched power and more power during their journeys. That's why he preferred to be alone.

However, he admitted that the path he had chosen would lead him to a no-good ending. He couldn't be training all his life at Mt. Silver. He needed a **challenger**: a good one. A good Pokémon trainer that could manage to be an actual opponent for him, not because only because of his strength, but also because of his determination, and caring of his Pokémon, and, at the same time, he could teach this trainer about his life experiences with Pokémon so he would become a true trainer.

"_Interesting thinking, human._"

Suddenly, the ground started shaking as the mysterious trainer see that a portal was opening. He stood there as one of his Pokéballs opened, revealing his most powerful and loyal Pokémon, Pikachu, which climbed to his shoulder, seeing that strange portal.

The portal started revealing a creature that was slowly making his way out of the portal. After a minute, the creature revealed itself. It was a Pokémon with four legs, ending in gold feet. It had a collar around its hip that had four green shards at the borders of the X-like collar. It had red eyes with green surrounding them. It was the Alpha Pokémon, Arceus.

"_I have been watching you for a while, human. You are different from the others._" Arceus said to the trainer through telepathy.

"….." The trainer remained in silence, only looking at the Pokémon with his red eyes.

"_Those eyes….. I've never seen that look for a long time…. You surely are interesting._"

"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu started to be perturbed by Arceus' sudden appearance and started to take a battle pose, with electric shocks coming out of its red cheeks.

"Hold it…" The trainer finally spoke, telling his Pikachu to not attack. The Pokémon obeyed.

"_What if I told you I can give you that challenge that you want? What would you do?_" Arceus told him.

"….!" The trainer's eyes widened at this revelation, but still maintain his serious posture.

"_So, what do you think?_"

The trainer didn't say a word for minutes, although it was natural in his personality. After a moment of awkward silence, the trainer spoke.

"Tell me who is it…"

Arceus only looked at the trainer, who looked with those penetrating eyes that could see into your soul itself and make you shake. Although he was the Alpha Pokémon, he couldn't help but to try to avoid the look of his eyes, eyes that showed anything but fear at the god-like Pokémon. Finally, Arceus told the trainer.

"_It's a kid that helped me once when I was in my worst moment. I tried to destroy every human in the world because one of them, the one I trusted more, betrayed me. In the end, it was all a misunderstanding and this trainer saved me from death. I believe he won't disappoint your spectations, human."_

"….Very well then." The trainer replied to the all-mighty Pokémon. "Take me to him."

With that being said Arceus opened a portal near to the trainer, so he could pass through it and meet the one that could actually understand his thoughts about being a true trainer.

"_One more thing before you leave._" Arceus said.

"What is it?" The trainer asked.

"_I shall tell you that this trainer resides in another dimension: a __**parallel world**__._"

"Parallel….world?" The trainer thought.

It was clear to him that there were another worlds existing apart from his, but he thought that they were Pokémon worlds. He never thought that a world similar to them in really aspects existed, even though researchers theorized that they did. The offer of Arceus started to became very suspicious to the trainer. Why would the Pokémon "god" care about his need of finding a true trainer?

"….And why are you taking me to another world just to battle this trainer you speak about?"

"_Because I see your determination, human. You have no evil in your heart and I know I can trust you. Besides, the trainer that saved my life has that same determination I see in you and I know both you and him can learn from each other after a battle. I'm interested in the developing of you two, so you can change both your worlds to a brighter tomorrow._"

"…."

"_I know you don't trust me at all, but like I said, he won't disappoint you. Now, it's time to go….._" Arceus stopped talking when he realized something. "_I'm sorry, but after all of this talking, I actually never asked who you were-_"

"**Red**." The trainer interrupted Arceus and replied to him, as he crossed the portal with Pikachu on his shoulder. "**Pokémon Trainer Red**."

Green and peaceful. The two words that described perfectly the majestic view of Pallet Town. Hometown of the best Pokémon researcher, Professor Samuel Oak, or just Prof. Oak for most of people. Many Pokémon trainers began their journey through the Kanto region in this town, receiving one of the three Pokémon starters of Kanto: Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. Although there was one time when a trainer started with a complete different Pokémon.

This Pokémon trainer started with a Pikachu as his first Pokémon, as he didn't manage to get one of the three starters the day he was supposed he would start his journey. The trainer eventually started his journey, making friends in the process, as he defeated 8 gyms in the region, earning the 8 badges he needed to compete in the Pokémon League. He was defeated, although, but he eventually recovered and started travelling more and more, exploring different regions, meeting new people, making new friends and rivals, and discovering new Pokémon.

After a long time, he returned once again to his hometown, along with his partner Pikachu, to relax after a big journey in his last region. He wanted to see how his mother was and how where the Pokémon he left in the lab of the well-known Pokémon researcher. As he reached the hill where he could see the entire town, he stopped to take a look at the beautiful view.

"It sure is beautiful, isn't it?" The trainer asked his partner.

"Pikapi!" His Pikachu nodded with a smile in its face.

"Well, it's time to return home. Let's go, Pikachu!" The trainer said as he started running heading to Pallet Town.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied, running to catch up with his trainer.

The trainer's name was **Ash Ketchum**.

**So, how was it? Hope you liked it =). Remember to read and review =) See you in the next chapter. It will be interesting.**


	2. Worlds Collide

**Hi, Fan Fiction Members! This is HollowKU posting the second chapter of this fic! I have noticed that no one has review the story yet. Oh well, but that's ok. That won't stop me from continuing posting the next chapters of the fic. You're all invited to continue reading and reviewing as much as you want. Well, without any more distractions, let's head to the fic!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 2: Worlds Collide**

Ash Ketchum has just arrived to Pallet Town, his hometown, after a long journey at the Unova region. He returned very excited, since he finally managed to beat the Pokémon League of Unova. After a long battle with his rival, Trip, he defeated him using Pikachu in a final clash with Trip's starter, Serperior. After he won the league he received the Unova League Trophy, and the Champion of the Unova Region, Alder, congratulated him for his victory.

Also, by defeating the League, he gained the privilege to challenge the Elite Four of Unova and Alder himself, and it would be show on television all over the world. However, the challenge started in three months, so Ash decided to take a break and return to his hometown to relax. Iris and Cilan remained in Unova, since Iris wanted to visit her town as well, and Cilan needed to return to assists his brothers at Striaton City.

Finally, Ash arrived to his home, where the happy Mr. Mime received him while cleaning the outsides of the Ketchum house.

"Hey, Mr. Mime! Good to see you again!" Ash said.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu also greeted the Pokémon.

"Mime!" Mr. Mime said with a big smile.

"Well, time to enter home." Ash opened the door, only to see his mother, Delia, who was smiling and with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Ash! My little baby!" Delia hugged her son like there was no tomorrow.

"Hi...mom! It's...good to see...you too." Ash said slowly, trying to get some air due to his mother's powerful embrace.

"You finally did it! You won the Pokémon League!" His mother said, with tears of joy in her eyes.

"I know! I feel like I can defeat anyone that wants to fight with me!" Ash said. "Well, I should better be going. I need to visit Prof. Oa-ahhhh!" He couldn't finish his sentence because his mother pulled him from his ear.

"Wait a minute, young man!" His mother said annoyed at her son's statement. "You have been here from less than a minute, and you want to leave already?"

"Uhhh...sorry mom...hehe!" Ash gulped as he apologized. He knew he shouldn't bother his mother.

"That's better, since I already cooked for you!" Delia said as she guided Ash to the kitchen.

"Wow!" Ash started drooling due to the view of the delicious food his mother made just for him. "You did your best making this, thanks mom!"

"Ok, just wait a minute so we can-" It was too late. Ash was already eating all the food like he didn't eat in days. "...eat together. Oh well, I should have known. After all, he's my son." She giggled as she approached the table.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu said to attract the attention of his master's mother. It looked a little bothered.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget about you, Pikachu!" Delia smiled as she pulled out a bottle of ketchup from the larder.

"PIKA!" Pikachu cried in happiness as it received the bottle of ketchup and reacted as the same way as his trainer.

"Well, for some reason you're partners." Delia said as she watched her son and his Pikachu eating desperately.

After a while, both Ash and Pikachu finished their "meals" and relaxed some minutes before they puked all of the stuff they ate. Suddenly, the phone started ringing.

"Mom, please...answer the phone." Ash said.

"Ok, ok, just stay where you are." Delia replied to his son as she answered the phone.

"Yes? What is it?...Oh, that's great! I'll tell him...Thanks Professor!" Delia hung and went to see Ash with a big smile on her face. "Hey Ash, guess what? It seems that all your friends came to visit you to congratulate you for your victory at the Unova League!"

"Really? Where are they?" Ash asked.

"Well, Prof. Oak told me that they are at the lab. They are checking on your Pokémon while visiting the professor." Delia said. "I think they would also want to see the team that made you win the league, don't they?"

"That's right mom! Well, we should get going! I already feel rested!" Ash said while getting up. "What about you buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded while getting up as well and climbed to the trainer's shoulder.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ash said. "Mom, are you coming?"

"Sorry, but I need first to clean all the mess you did on the table." Delia said as she pointed out the "massacre" Ash did. "I'll be there right after that."

"Ok! Well, I'm leaving!" Ash said as he ran to the door.

"Hi! It's someone in he-ahhh!" Someone opened the door without knowing Ash was running to it, so they hit each other and fell to the floor.

"Ughh..." Ash touched his head. That was one rough hit, he thought. "Are you ok, Pikachu?"

"Pika..." Pikachu nodded.

"So you are not asking me how am I? How rude of you." The person said, still in the floor with arms crossed.

"Oh, sorry! Are you o- Whoa!" Ash jumped of surprise. "MAY? What are you doing here?"

"So I can't visit a friend to congratulate him for his victory?" May asked, still pissed off.

"No, no! It's just that...I didn't expect that you would come here, to my house." Ash said, while helping her to get up. "Prof. Oak told me that you were with the others at the lab."

"Yeah. I arrived with Max a while ago, and we were seeing your Pokémon at the lab, but I got bored and decided to visit you instead of waiting for you to appear." May said.

"Hehe! Sorry, my mom cooked me a fest and I couldn't refuse!" Ash said.

"Typical Ash, always thinking in food." May giggled a little.

"Hey! I also think in other things too!"

"Pokémon battles don't count." May said with a grin.

"Why not?" May laughed at his reply. "Well, we need to get going! Come on May!" He said as he grabbed May's hand and started running.

"Ahhh! What are you doing?" May asked while blushing.

"What? If I hold you while running, we'll get to the lab faster." Ash replied, obviously not getting what May really meant with the question.

"Ohhh...ok, you're right." May replied a little disappointed. "But I don't mind walking! Besides, we could talk about how we've been during our journeys, besides you winning the Unova League."

"Ohhh ok." Ash replied, while seeing May's face a little saddened. "Are you ok?

"Oh? It's nothing. Don't worry about it." May replied with a fake smile, which Ash believed to be a true one.

They started walking to Prof. Oak's lab, talking about the adventures they had in their respective journeys...

"So May, how was your journey at the Johto region?" Ash asked.

"It was nice. After the Wallace Cup I returned to Johto and managed to get the other ribbons I needed to participate at the Grand Festival. I managed to get through the competition easily, I even defeated Drew at the semi-finals, but at the final I lost to Solidad. I was pretty upset after that event, since I was alone at the time, and I didn't have anyone to cheer me up." May said and started to get depressed.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you, May." Ash said while putting his hand on May's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I got over it already, but thanks for your concern. It's nice to have someone to be there for you." May said while smiling at Ash. "However, the worse thing happened after the Grand Festival."

"What happened?"

"Well I was feeling down after my loss so after the ceremony Drew approached to me. At first I thought he was going to rub the loss in my face, but he actually wanted to ask me out!" May said.

"Ask you...out?" Ash asked confused and started to get a strange feeling in his stomach, like there was something bothering him. "You mean... like when Brock stalks every Nurse Joy he meets?"

"Something like that, but without all that creepy stuff."

"So...what did you say to him?" Ash asked, with that weird feeling still bothering him.

"Of course I said NO! He's an idiot! He always bothers me and thinks he's the best coordinator. I think he just used that moment of weakness of mine to his advantage, hoping I would accept him." May replied, feeling proud of what she just said.

"Oh well, that's a relief..." Ash said

"Did you say something?" May asked.

"N-no, it's n-nothing!" Ash replied. "Why did I say that?" he thought.

"Ok. Oh, by the way, I actually never congratulate you for winning the Unova League!" May said as she hugged Ash. "Congratulations!"

"T-thanks May..." He said as the weird feeling he had changed from bad to kind of good. "What's going on? Why am I feeling so weird? Maybe I'm getting sick." He thought. May then released Ash.

"So, how was it? I mean, I know that you managed to beat the Unova League with only the Pokémon you captured there!" May said, as she noticed a little Pokémon crossing its little arms. "And of course with your help, Pikachu!" She said as she smiled.

"Well, while I was at Unova, I met a boy named Trip that became my rival after he defeated me in our first battle. He always bothered me that he was a best Pokémon Trainer than me, just like you and Drew. So in order to prove him wrong, I made a bet with him that I could defeat him using Pikachu and the Pokémon I caught in Unova, instead of also using the Pokémon from my other journeys like I usually do. In the end I managed to defeat him at the finals and won the league!" Ash said while raising a fist.

"That's great! It seems that your dream will finally become true!" May said.

"That's right! Now I only need to participate at the Elite Four challenge and defeat them and the Unova Champion so I can be one step closer to be the Pokémon Master!" Ash said truly excited that he was close to his dream.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu said as he made a V with its little hands in sign of confidence.

"Wow, take it easy! Remember you have to train a lot if you want to defeat the Elite Four AND the Champion."

"Don't worry about it, May. I'm sure I'll defeat them." Ash replied.

"Ok then. Oh look! There's Prof. Oak's lab!" May pointed the lab of the famous researcher.

After they arrived, they entered and saw that everyone was waiting for them, with a giant "CONGRATULATIONS!" panel located on the top of the lab. As Ash looked amazed, he noticed all of his friends that came to visit him: the first were Brock, then Misty, Gary, Tracy, Max, Dawn and Prof. Oak.

"Oh, you guys! Thank you!" Ash said as he approached them.

"You did it Ash!" Misty said, as she jumped of joy.

"I'm very proud of you, buddy." Brock said as he approached Ash, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks Brock!" Ash replied.

"I'm pretty impressed, Ash. You weren't so bad." Ash's first rival, Gary said.

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment." Ash said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Good work, Ash. As expected of the one who won the Orange Islands League!" Tracy said.

"Nice moves out there, Ash! I can't wait to battle you someday!" May's little brother Max said.

"Hehe! Same here, Max!" Ash replied to the kid.

"You were amazing, Ash! I wish I was there with you at that precise moment you won!" Dawn said.

"But you had to return to Hoenn for the Grand Festival! After all, you just went to Unova for the Junior Cup, right?"

"And to see the famous model Mr. Elesa herself, remember?"

"Hehe, I didn't really pay attention when you said that." Ash felt the glare of Dawn, and scared a bit.

"I cannot express how much I'm happy for you, Ash." Prof. Oak said very happy. "I still remember when you started your journey. You had the courage to take Pikachu, a Pokémon that even I wasn't able to control at the time. But you eventually gained its trust and respect, and followed your way to become a Pokémon Master. I can only say this: Congratulations, son!"

"Thanks, professor! Thanks everyone!"

Then they started to talk while enjoying the event they prepared for that special occasion. People were talking in many corners of the lab: Misty was talking to Tracy and Brock. Gary stayed with Prof. Oak, talking maybe of some Pokémon research. Dawn showed some of her performances to Ash's Pokémon, and Ash, May and Max were talking near the food...

"Ash, didn't you just eat?" May asked. Ash stopped eating like an animal to answer.

"Yeah. So what's your point?"

"You're going to get sick! Stop eating!"

"But the food's delicious!"

"Well, he has a point there..." Max said, while eating a sandwich. "By the way May, why were you with Ash when he came in?"

"Y-you know... I was bored waiting for him, so I decided to go meet him by myself!" May replied, trying to hide her blush.

"Are you sure it was because of that? Or maybe because you like-bubghghb!" Max was suddenly interrupted by May's hand which covered his "big" mouth.

"Shut up, Max!" May yelled at his brother. "Sorry about that, Ash. He sometimes says things that don't make any sense, hehehe..." May laughed nervously. Ash suspected they were keeping something from him, but he just ignored it.

Suddenly, Pikachu started acting strange, pulling Ash from his jacket and pointing outside, like if it was feeling something weird.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said pointing to the door

"What? Outside?" Ash asked his Pokémon.

"What happened, Ash?" May asked as the others approached to see the situation.

"It seems that Pikachu wants to go outside, but it seems not for playing. He seems pretty nervous." Ash replied.

"You're right! Piplup's also asking me to go outside!" Dawn said.

"Ash, look at your Pokémon!" Gary said to the trainer.

They noticed that Ash's Pokémon were desperately trying to get outside the lab. They eventually managed to get out. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and followed them. The group eventually got outside and saw that the Pokémon where looking to a kind of hole in the sky.

"What is that?" Max asked.

"It looks like some kind of portal. Maybe it's a rupture between dimensions that opened accidentally." Gary replied, trying to give explanation to the mysterious phenomenon.

"Wait a minute...I've seen that before..." Ash said analyzing the portal. "It just looks like the portal Palkia, Dialga, Giratina and Arceus used to return to their own dimensions!"

"But why here? Why in Pallet Town? It's not like we have some kind of business with those mythical Pokémon, right?" Dawn asked. "Last time we saw those four TOGETHER, they almost killed us!"

"Let's just hope it's nothing dangerous." Brock said.

Suddenly, something came out of the portal, as the portal closed. They didn't notice what was it, since it was too far to see it, but it wasn't the legendary Pokémon they expected. The thing that came out of the portal started to fall faster and faster.

"What is that thing?" May asked.

"I don't know, but it's coming pretty fast." Gary replied.

As the "thing" got closer to hit ground, they noticed that the figure started to get human shape.

"Hey isn't that...?" Max asked.

"A person?!" Misty gasped at this revelation.

"We need to act fast, before he hits the ground and die!" Ash yelled as he looked out for one of his Pokéballs. "Unfezant, I choose-"

"Wait! Look at him!" Brock said, stopping Ash from summoning his Pokémon.

They looked as the mysterious person reacted and pointed to the floor. Suddenly, a Pokémon jumped from his arm, and used the Thunder attack to the ground. The ground broke, making many pieces of rocks float due to the explosion. Then the man reached to land on one of the rocks and started jumping from rock to rock, without difficulties, as his Pokémon did the same thing. They eventually reached the floor, without a hit, like if they were just getting down stairs. The man eventually revealed to be a teen, and the Pokémon was a Pikachu.

Ash and the others were shocked at the moves of the mysterious man. They never saw a person move with that agility and with such accuracy: it looked like he had everything calculated from the start. They were also impressed by the Pokémon's power. A Thunder attack would never destroy the ground so hard without using all of its power, yet they saw that this Pikachu wasn't tired at all. Finally reacting after the event, Ash ran to see the condition of the teen.

"Hey!" Ash yelled as he reached his destination. "Are you ok?"

"..." The teen remained in silence as he started walking away, completely ignoring Ash. He seemed like he was weak due to his walking, but Ash didn't noticed about this.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Ash said as he grabbed the mysterious person from the arm.

"...Ugh!" Suddenly, the mysterious guy collapsed to the floor. He passed out.

"Pika! Pika!" The guy's Pikachu approached its master, rubbing his shoulder trying to wake him up.

"Hey guys! Help me out! This guy just passed out!" Ash yelled as his friends went to assist him.

"What happened?" Gary asked.

"I don't know! I asked to him if he was ok, but he ignored me and tried to walk away. I grabbed him and suddenly he felt unconscious." Ash replied.

"Well, let's take him to the lab. We can't leave him here." Prof. Oak said as he touched the person, only to return his hand in shock. "His body is extremely cold! He must have been in a place with a very low temperature. That would explain why he passed out! The sudden change of temperature could have shocked him. Ok, let's take him before he gets even worse."

"Ok!" Ash said as helped the others to pick him up.

"No way!" May said as the others were picking the mysterious trainer up. "Ash, he looks almost exactly like you!"

"What?!" Ash said as he looked at the guy's face.

May indeed was right. The trainer's face was almost exactly like Ash, except that he didn't have the Z-like marks Ash had on his face. When talking about clothes, he was wearing a red cap with white in front, with a weird symbol on the corner of the white part of the cap. He wore blue jeans with a black T-shirt and a red and white pullover and with white running shoes.

"He's wearing clothes almost identical to mine when I first started my journey!" Ash said shocked.

This was starting to get weird. First, he showed up from a mysterious portal in the sky, managed to get to the floor by its own methods, and finally, he was like other Ash! He even wore similar clothes to him and also had a Pikachu! It was confusing for the trainers, but they all shared one same opinion.

"Who in the world is this guy?!"

**So, what do you think? Finally Ash and the others met Red, but they don't even know who they are dealing with XD. If you want to know what's going to happen to Red, stay tuned and wait for the next chapter of Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger. Remember: read and review!**


	3. Counterparts

**Hi, Fan Fiction Members! This is HollowKU, ready for another chapter of this fic! I'm glad that I'm finally getting reviews and I'm happy that you liked it! I have to tell you that I really had trouble doing this chapter, since I had another idea for how this chapter was going to be, but in the end I made it work out. Well, hope you like it, and let's get to the fic!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 3: Counterparts**

**Red's POV**

_I don't even know why I'm doing this..._

"_It's because you want to meet this trainer I told you about. Your inner hyperactive nature wished a new challenge."_

_How did he...? Oh, right. Pokémon "god". Well, that makes things easier. I won't need to talk._

"_Indeed. So we're now heading to another dimension through this space rift I created. It's exclusively of MY use. Not even my children can access to this tunnel. Not even Giratina, who can travel across dimensions without any problem."_

_...So, mind telling me who is this trainer I'm about to battle with?_

"_Well, that's something I don't want to tell you."_

_...You're kidding, right? What do you expect? That I go to a world I don't know and find this "magnificent" trainer without a clue?_

"_First of all, we're going to a parallel world, meaning that the places you know in your world also exist in that world. Second and last, I know only by seeing you that you're not an ordinary trainer. I'm sure you're capable of recognizing the nature of another human being just looking at him/her. I'm sure you'll recognize him just by looking at him. Don't worry, I'll drop you near to where he is located right now."_

_... ..._

"_Well, we're almost there. This is where I stay. Don't worry. If you need to return to your world, just tell and I'll appear and take you back."_

_... ..._

"_Good luck...__**Red**__."_

**Normal POV**

It was morning. The sun had just rise from the hills and illuminating the houses of every family in Pallet Town. However, the true interest was in the Ketchum residence, where the trainer that was found yesterday by Ash and his friends just woke up from after his sudden collapse. He found himself trying to remember how he ended up there and how was he going to get out so he could challenge the great trainer Arceus told him about.

"Oh! Look who's finally up!"

The trainer, who was a little confused about his whereabouts, looked at one corner of the room to find a brown-haired girl with blue eyes, who was wearing an orange shirt, black shorts, black and white gloves, orange and white shoes and a green headscarf. The trainer didn't recognize the girl at all, just looking at her with a puzzled look. The girl just smiled.

"So, that fall must have been a lot for you, wasn't it?" The girl asked.

"..." The trainer remained in silence.

"So, you're the shy type of guy, aren't you?"

"...I prefer quiet type." The trainer finally replied. This made the girl giggle.

"By the way, my name's May! It's good to meet you..."

"Red. The name's Red." The trainer introduced himself, while trying to get up. His head started to hurt. "Ugh..."

"Easy there. Take your time." May said. "Remember that you passed out yesterday so your system is still weak."

"Ok..." Red replied. He noticed that his things were missing, including his Pokéballs.

"Don't worry, your stuff are in the first floor. I assure you that no one has touched them." This calmed Red a little, but the principal doubt was still there.

"...Where am I?" Red asked, while he checked on the window of the room, and started feeling that he was there before.

"We are in Pallet Town."

"_I'm in Pallet Town_?" Red thought while surprised. He never expected that he would end up in the parallel equivalent to his hometown. "_Arceus said that he would drop me in a place near to where the trainer was. So...this trainer also lives in Pallet Town like me?_" His thoughts were interrupted when May called a certain friend to check on him.

"Brock! Misty! He's already up!" May yelled.

"_Brock? Misty? The Pewter City Gym Leader Brock and the Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty? Why are they here? What is their business with this girl? Don't they have gyms to take care of_?"

All of these questions were invading the trainer's head, without getting a logical answer. He knew that even if he was at a parallel world, things should not be so different from his world. Suddenly the two leaders entered the room.

"Oh, hi! It's good to see that you recovered! I'm Misty, by the way." The water-type leader said.

"Feel the same. It's impressive how fast you've recovered! My name's Brock. It's a pleasure to meet you." The rock-type leader said.

"I'm Red..." The trainer introduced himself and said nothing more.

"Well Red, take this tea. It will help you get better." Brock said as he handed the tea to Red.

"..." Red said nothing and took the tea gently and started to drink it. "...Thanks."

"Oh, and here is your bag. As you can see, no one of us looked on the inside." Misty handed the back pack to Red as he finished his tea. He took his bag and still with doubts, he checked its insides. He found all his stuff inside.

"...I feel much better now. Now, if you excuse me..." Red said as he put his bag on his back and got up, ready to go.

"Wait, where do you think you are going?" Misty said with such a noisy voice that made Red stop. "It's pretty early in the morning and breakfast its almost ready!"

"I can take care of myself..." Red replied. "Besides, I have business to take care of. I need to find a certain person..." He said as he continued walking to the door.

"Everyone in the town is sleeping right now." Brock said. This comment made Red to stop in the entrance. "Even if you leave now, you will have to wait to that person to wake up. Besides, we could help you find him/her."

"..._He got me there. Besides, a little homemade breakfast could be nice for a change." _Red thought, remembering the meals he ate after he started living in Mt. Silver. He then turned to face the leaders and May. "Very well then, I'll stay." He replied.

After convincing Red to stay, he, Misty, Brock and May went downstairs and headed to the kitchen. They found Ms. Ketchum cooking breakfast while her loyal Pokémon Mr. Mime was setting the table. Sitting around the table was Dawn and Max, also people that Red didn't recognize at all.

"Hi, honey! It's good to see you finally up! I'm Delia Ketchum" Ms. Ketchum said to Red. "Wow! You really look like my son! Come on, take a sit. Breakfast is almost ready."

"U-um...ok." Red said replied and took a sit. "_...Wow...this young lady makes me feel like home...she reminds me of my mom..." _He thought.

"Hi, I'm Dawn! Nice to meet you!" Dawn introduced herself.

"I'm Red..." The trainer said.

"My name is Max. I hope my sister didn't scare you with that face of hers..." Max joked, but regretted it later when he saw his now enraged sister making a fist and quickly heading to his head.

"Ow!" Max rubbed his head. "Oh, come on! It was a little joke!"

"Not funny, Max!" May yelled at his little brother. Misty and Brock grabbed May, stopping her from unleashing her rage. Red couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Ok! Breakfast's ready!" Ms. Ketchum said with joy, as she and Mr. Mime put the food on the table. "Mmm...Ash is still sleeping. May, could you be so kind to wake him up?"

"E-Ehhhh?! Me?" May asked nervously, while her cheeks got red like a tomato. She tried to hide it, although. "O-ok, Ms. Ketchum...I'll bring him..." Still blushing, she went upstairs to wake Ash up. Red watched the scene in silence, and after a moment, he finally spoke.

"So..." He said while grabbing a piece of bread. "This Ash guy must be a pretty dense guy, isn't he?"

Everyone else in the kitchen burst in laughter after hearing Red's comment.

Meanwhile, May arrived to Ash's room, still blushing and kind of doubting of entering the room...

"_Oh, come on May! You've seen him sleeping before when you travelled with him both Hoenn and Kanto! There's nothing to be embarrassed of!_" May said to herself. "_Although...I didn't realize I liked him until the end of our journey. So this is a completely different scenario!_" Her thoughts were having a fight.

"_This is ridiculous! I just need to wake him up!_" May thought, while gaining confidence. "Ok. Here I go!" She said as she entered the room.

Already inside, she looked and analyzed every corner of the room. It was pretty clean, but she doubt that it was because of Ash. She giggled at this comment. When checking the left side of the room, she noticed a desk with all of Ash's awards and most valuable gifts: The Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh Leagues certificates, the Orange Island League Trophy, between others.

What caught her attention was a special gift she recognized almost instantly: it was a wood Teddiursa sculpture. She gave that to Ash as a gift during her short stay at the Sinnoh region due to the Wallace Cup. She remembered that she also gave Brock and Dawn gifts, so they wouldn't suspect of her true feelings for Ash. She felt really happy seeing that her gift was one of Ash's most valuable treasures. Her thoughts however were interrupted by the sudden noises of her sleeping crush.

"Mm...Elite Four...here I go..." Ash snored after saying these words.

"He hasn't change one bit..." May said while giggling. Her giggle made Ash's Pikachu to wake up.

"Piiiii...Kaaaa..." Pikachu said as it stretched. "Pikapi!" Pikachu greeted May.

"Good morning, Pikachu! Did you sleep well?" May asked. The electric-type Pokémon nodded. She then turned to see the sleeping trainer.

"He looks kind of cute when sleeping..." May couldn't help but blush at her own comment. She approached to the trainer and shook him up a little.

"Ash, wake up!" May said while shaking the trainer, with no results.

"Mmm...just five more minutes..."

"Ash, come on! Breakfast's ready!" She continued shaking Ash. Out of blue, Ash woke up and sat in his bed very quickly.

"BREAKFAST!" Ash yelled as he raised a fist in sign of victory.

"A-Ash..."

What Ash didn't realize was that in his sudden reaction, his face was just a few inches from May's. Although this happened, none of them reacted at all. They just stayed looking at each other's faces, like if they were in some kind of spell.

"_Come on, May! Stop looking at him, before it's too late..._" May said to herself while gazing the trainer's eyes.

"_Why can't I stop looking at her?_" Ash asked himself. "_It's like...she has me trapped with her eyes...those beautiful blue eyes...wait, what?_" He blushed, even though he didn't understand why.

"_What? Ash's blushing? Does that mean...?_" May blushed even more.

"Um...Am I interrupting something?"

When hearing this, May jumped from the bed and fell to the floor, while Ash jumped so high that his head hit with the roof of his room. Both of them were groaning in pain while seeing the person that came to see them. It was Red.

"Red? What are you doing here?" May asked while rubbing her head.

"You were taking your time..." Red replied.

"Ok. I'll be heading there." May said as she ran to the door, but she heard a whisper from Red.

"Maybe he's not as dense as I thought..."

As May left, Ash just recovered from his hit in the head. Pikachu climbed to his shoulder to see his trainer.

"Ow...well, I should get ready for breakfast..." Ash said as he noticed that Red was still in his room. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Ash, and this is my friend Pikachu!" Ash said as he raised his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Red..." Red said as he returned the handshake with a smile on his face.

When both their hands connected, they both felt a strange sensation running through their hands to every part of their bodies, yet it felt like there was some kind of familiar connection. After a few seconds their hands separated.

"Did you felt that?" Ash asked to Red. This one nodded. "It was like some kind of familiar feeling, like if you and I have met before..."

"..." Red remained in silence, while looking at Ash.

"Oh, well. Let's talk about it later, I'm hungry!" Ash said as he grabbed his cap and headed downstairs with Pikachu in his shoulder.

"His face...his clothes...his Pikachu..." Red said as he looked into his hand and made it into a fist. He realized who Ash truly was. "This is going to be interesting..." He smiled.

After a nice breakfast...

"Oh, I'm so full! Thanks for the food, mom!" Ash said while rubbing his belly.

"Thanks for the meal, Ms. Ketchum. It was delicious." Red said.

"It's good to see you liked it!" Ms. Ketchum said very happy. "Well, what are you going to do now?" She asked. Then Brock, who had finished breakfast earlier, came into the kitchen.

"Prof. Oak just called and has requested that Red should go to his lab. Apparently, he is quite curious in meeting our friend over here." Brock said while looking at Red. "Of course, only if you don't mind..."

"...Let's go." Red said, while heading to the door and going to Prof. Oak's lab.

"I'm also quite interested in that fact, aren't you Ash?" Max asked.

"Sure. Well, only one way to find out. Come on guys, let's go!" Ash said.

At the lab...

"Welcome, everyone!" Prof. Oak said as he noticed the new person in the group. "Oh, you must be Red! My name is Prof. Oak. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for your time in coming here, since Brock told me you were kind in a hurry into finding someone in the town."

"No problem, professor." Red said. "I already found who I was looking..." Everyone was confused by this comment.

"Well, here is my grandson. His name is Gary. He used to be a Pokémon Trainer and Ash's rival, but now he's a Pokémon researcher like me." Prof. Oak said while presenting Gary to Red.

"Hi, like my gramps said, I'm Gary. Seeing you is kind of weird, although. It's like I'm seeing double." Gary also noticed the great resemblance between Red and Ash.

"..." Red remained in silence, as he gave Gary a deadly glare, which he noticed.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Gary asked a little annoyed.

"..." Red didn't say anything, still with a mean look that eventually faded.

"Well...first things first. I analyzed the environment near the portal where you came from, and noticed that it share the same components of the space particles that are all around the universe."

"..." Red remained in silence while listening to the professor.

"So, what does that mean?" May asked.

"To be more accurate, in my first conclusion, I thought that the portal that appeared yesterday was due to a time rift caused by a strong energy, maybe caused by Celebi. But then I compared that data with the components of another data that was given to me by Prof. Rowan from the Sinnoh region after the legendary Dialga, Palkia and Giratina were summoned in the region, I realized I was wrong." Ash and his friends were confused by the professor's statement.

"It was not a time rift, it was a **space** rift: a portal between dimensions." Prof. Oak concluded. "So, is that true...Red?"

"...Yes..." Red nodded to the professor's conclusion. "That portal was a space rift. I used it to come to this world."

"So that means...?"

"Yes, I've came from another world: a parallel world, to be exact." Red said while grabbing his cap. Everyone in the room, except Prof. Oak and Gary were shocked. They couldn't believe that Red came from another world.

"A parallel world?" Max asked.

"A parallel world is another dimension that shares the same basic elements as ours, like the planets, the laws of physics, but they're always different in some ways." Gary explained.

"That's not all. Now that you've said that you're from a parallel world, and judging by your appearance and the fact that I noticed you were holding a Pikachu with you when you arrived to this dimension..." Prof. Oak said, as he got to the precise point. "I can actually say that you're the Ash from the other world, aren't you?"

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed, especially Ash.

"That's right. When I first met him, I realized that we shared the same traits and I felt a familiar energy when I touched his hand. It was seeing into a mirror. I think you felt it too, other me." Red said while smiling.

"So...are you saying that we're both the same person?" Ash asked still confused.

"Basically, yes." Red replied.

"So you and I have visited the same places, met the same friends, met the same rivals and have the same Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"Well, I first started my journey in Pallet Town and received my starter Pokémon from the Prof. Oak of my world. My only rival was Blue Oak, who is the professor's grandson and-"

"My counterpart, I presume." Gary said interrupting Red, who nodded at the ex-trainer's statement. "So that deadly glare you gave me earlier makes me think that you and my counterpart don't get along, do you?" Gary asked.

"Yes. In my world, he started his journey with me, and appeared constantly when my Pokémon were already weak from battling other trainers. He managed to get the 8 Gym Badges from Kanto, and he eventually defeated the Elite Four and became Champion, but his ambition for power and mistreat of Pokémon lead to his defeat minutes after your victory. In the present, you are the Viridian City Gym Leader in my world." Red said.

"So, in your world...I actually became Champion..." Gary said, surprised that his counterpart managed to achieve the highest rank for a Pokémon Trainer. "Although from what you say, my counterpart seems to be a bad person."

"Now he's just arrogant. His worst moment was when he became Champion. A good example of how power can corrupt. He's still a jerk, but he's a better person than he used to be." Red said.

"So what about us? How are our counterparts?" Misty asked. "Did they travel with you?"

"Well, I spent my entire journey alone, so I can't really say much about you. In my world I know a Brock and a Misty, but I just saw them once, when I went to their respective gyms for a battle." Red said to Misty and Brock, and then turned to face May, Max and Dawn. "In your case, I didn't meet anyone like you back there in my world."

"But why? Didn't you travel across the others regions, like Hoenn and Sinnoh?"

"Actually, I only went through the Kanto region." Red replied.

"Only Kanto?!" Ash exclaimed. "I thought that we had the same experience."

"Experience..." Red only laughed at that statement. "So you think you have more experience than me because I only travelled through Kanto? You're underestimating me..."

"So you're telling me that you learned more during your first journey that I in all of mine?" Ash asked annoyed.

"I have trained during three years non-stop in the top of Mt. Silver." Red replied calmed. "I don't doubt of your ability, but judging that you have travelled to other regions and have more "experience" than I do, I expected a little more."

Red and Ash continued arguing between each other, yet they reacted differently. Ash was getting extremely pissed off, while Red kept his cool all the time. May and the others only saw the scene and wondered how to put an end to it.

"Why are they suddenly fighting? A minute ago they were fine!" Dawn said.

"It is natural." Prof. Oak replied. "They are both the same person, so both of them have natural expectations from each other. As I can see, Red's "short" journey as a Pokémon Trainer has, in a way, made Ash a little arrogant, since he already has visited five regions. On the other hand, Ash always starts from scratch in each region he visits, leaving the Pokémon he used on his previous journeys here at the lab, except for Pikachu, of course."

"So, are you going to leave them like that?" May asked worried.

"They'll eventually solve their differences. After all, they're the same person." Prof. Oak said. Then they continued hearing the fight.

"Oh, yeah? So you think you're better than I am?" Ash said while grabbing a Pokéball and pointing at Red. "Then **prove** it."

"..." Red smiled, while grabbing his cap and also grabbing a Pokéball. "Bring it on...other me."

"Ok, then. Red, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

**Ok! So this was the third chapter! Hope you liked it! Remember to read and review. See you in the next chapter!**


	4. Ash VS Red A Fair Fight?

**Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU posting the fourth chapter of Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger! Sorry for the delay, although. I've been busy with some stuff and also I had some issues to take care of with my parents. But now I'm ready to continue with the fic. Now, let's get to the fic! Hope you like this chapter!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challeger**

**Chapter 4: Ash VS. Red – A Fair Fight?**

A powerful clash was about to happen. The garden of the famous researcher Prof. Oak would be where this event would take place. Ash's friends were seeing what was about to happen just from a few meters. As for the trainers, they were already in position.

In one side of the field, Ash was looking at Red with such a glare, that his friends believed that this was one of the few times they saw Ash pissed off. On the other side, Red just looked emotionless to Ash while grabbing his cap, as if he didn't care about of his counterpart's glare.

Ash's friends looked both trainers, waiting for one of them to unleash its first Pokémon. Although they all confident that Ash would win, they didn't know anything about Red's battle strategy, and if he was Ash's counterpart, that would mean that his strength was extremely powerful.

"Ok, I will be the referee in this battle!" Brock said as he located himself in the middle of both trainers.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Ash said very confident.

"..." Red remained in silence.

"This battle will be between Ash Ketchum and Red, both trainers from Pallet Town!" Brock said. "Each trainer will use six Pokémon. Both trainers are allowed substitutions. The battle will end when all Pokémon from one side cannot fight anymore." Brock said, while looking at both trainers. "Are you ready?"

"Wait." Red replied with an emotionless voice. Brock got scared just by looking at Red´s eyes. "Other me, I'll only say this once: I take my battles...**seriously**. I will not be responsible for the condition of your Pokémon once this battle begins. Do you understand?"

Red's words made everyone get nervous. Due to how it sounded, Red was serious about it. He really meant what he just said. Unfortunately, this didn't happen in Ash's case...

"Don't try to intimidate me, Red! I'll show you who's boss here!" Ash said a little arrogant.

"...Very well then." Red said as he grabbed his cap, making his eyes barely visible and raised a Pokéball.

(A/N: Just like his sprite in HGSS.)

A strong pressure could be felt on the air after Red finished talking and take his battle pose. A powerful aura was emanating from the trainer from the other dimension. Although it was not visible, the few trainers who had enough experience to feel the power of other challengers could feel that Red was not a regular trainer.

"Ok! Let's start this!" Ash said while grabbing a Pokéball. "Go, Leavanny!" As Ash threw the Pokéball, the mentioned Pokémon appeared on the field, ready for the battle.

"Leavanny!" The Pokémon said.

"..." Red just stayed silent and did nothing. Suddenly, his Pokéball suddenly opened, revealing the Pokémon he chose.

As the energy started from the Pokéball faded, it revealed a big Pokémon which height and weight were far higher than Ash's Pokémon. It was a Snorlax. However, this Snorlax was different from others that Ash and his friends had seen before. They could see actual muscles in the Pokémon's body, something really weird in Pokémon, especially in a "fat" Pokémon like Snorlax. Also, it could be noticed that Snorlax's teeth were bigger than normal, as well as his claws. However, the most notorious fact was that in Snorlax's belly was an X-shaped scar.

"_That Snorlax..._" Gary thought while analyzing the Pokémon. "_It's nothing I've seen before. Be careful, Ash._"

"Ok! Let's get this started!" Ash said as he pointed the Snorlax. "Leavanny, use Energy Ball!" The Pokémon obeyed and started charging the attack.

"Leava...NNY!"

"..." Red just remained silent, and watched as the Pokémon unleashed its attack.

"Wait, he's not going to do anything?!" Dawn asked shocked.

"BOOOOM!" The attack landed on Snorlax. There was smoke everywhere due to the explosion.

"Yes! Direct hit!" Ash yelled in victory.

"Good job, Ash!" Max yelled to his friend.

"Wait!" Gary said while standing up, making everyone gasp. "Ash! Don't let your guard down! This is far from over!"

"What?" Ash said while seeing the fog dissipating, revealing a perfectly healthy Snorlax. "No way! Not even a little scratch?"

"...Blizzard." Red finally took action, ordering his Pokémon to use the powerful ice move.

"Snorlax!" The powerful blizzard was unleashed from the Pokémon's mouth, leading directly to the enemy Pokémon.

"Oh no! Leavanny, dodge!"

It was too late. The attack had already hit the grass Pokémon, slowly freezing and damaging the Pokémon from its large legs to end of its head, completely frozen.

"Oh no, Leavanny!" Ash yelled, worried about his Pokémon. "Come on, try to release yourself!"

"..." It was futile. The grass Pokémon was not responding to the trainer's orders.

"...Jump." As Ash tried to "revive" his Pokémon, Red continued his counterattack, giving orders to his Pokémon, although a little "difficult" to accomplish...

"He's ordering a Snorlax to jump?!" May asked. "That's insane! There's no way a Snorlax can do-"

"Lax!" The Pokémon obeyed and raised himself from the ground, and jumped.

Everyone was astonished as they saw how the Pokémon actually jumped, and really high!

"No...way..." Misty said in shock.

"Red's Snorlax DID jump!" May also said, while remembering something. "He's going really high! He's jumped almost 3 floors from the ground!"

"But why did Red ordered him to do that?" Gary said, as he noticed that Snorlax reached its limit, and started falling down to the ground, heading to a certain point: Leavanny. "That's it! Oh no, this is bad!"

"...Giga Impact." Red ordered his Pokémon.

"LAX!" Snorlax started to be engulfed by an enormous purple energy.

"Oh no! Leavanny, come on! Get out from the ice!" Ash yelled to his Pokémon.

"..." Still no response from the Pokémon, as Snorlax got closer to its target.

"Leavanny!"

"BOOOM!" Snorlax landed directly into the frozen body of Leavanny, destroying the ground where the Pokémon was located, and its surroundings.

"LEAVANNY!" Ash yelled as he approached to where his Pokémon was, only to find the big Snorlax in the way.

"..." Red just looked emotionless as he raised his Pokéball. "Return..."

The big Snorlax returned to the Pokéball, only to reveal that beneath him, was the damaged body of Leavanny.

"Leavanny! Are you alright?" Ash asked to his Pokémon, but he got no response. "Come on! Answer me!"

"Leavanny cannot continue fighting, the victory is for Snorlax!" Brock announced. Then Ash returned Leavanny to its Pokéball and handed it to Brock to help it recover, as he glared at Red.

"YOU! How could you do that to Leavanny?!" Ash asked really pissed off.

"I told you from the beginning that this was going serious." Red replied, while grabbing another Pokéball. "So, shall we continue?"

"You little..." Ash said while making a fist and grabbing his next Pokéball.

"_Red is a really powerful trainer. Not only had he managed to make his Snorlax jump to such height, but also used Giga Impact and gravity itself to make such damage to Ash's Leavanny after he froze it with a powerful Blizzard. Ash must be really careful when dealing with him._" Gary thought.

"Ok, let's get serious! Go, Krookodile!" Ash yelled as he threw the Pokéball, revealing the ground/dark-type Pokémon.

"Krooko!" The Pokémon yelled as he grabbed his red sunglasses.

"..." The ball from Red's hand suddenly opened like the last one and revealed his second Pokémon.

It was a giant dragon-like Pokémon with a flame at the end of its tail: a Charizard. But just like Snorlax, this Charizard was different from the others: it was bigger than other Charizard. Its eyes were crimson red and just staring at its eyes you could feel real fear. Its most prominent feature was the flame from its tail, which was bigger and the energy flowing from the flame showed how well trained the Pokémon was.

"Ok! Krookodile, use Dig!" Ash ordered his Pokémon.

"Krooko!" The Pokémon opened started digging, making himself beneath the floor and disappeared.

"Fly..." Red said to his Pokémon. Charizard took flight very quickly, leaving a path of dust in his way.

"Ash, you fool! Charizard is immune to ground-type attacks!" Gary yelled.

"I know! But this way I prevented him to do the first move." Ash said while grinning. "Krookodile! Use Rock Slide!"

The Pokémon appeared from underground and unleashed the move. Rocks started appearing in the sky, falling down and heading to Charizard.

"Dodge..." Red ordered. The great skilled Pokémon started dodging the attack, while slowly heading to Krookodile. "Flare Blitz..." Charizard was engulfed by a powerful fire aura heading faster and faster to Ash's Pokémon.

"_Krookodile hasn't got this attack perfectly dominated, but I have no choice...this is for Leavanny..._" Ash thought, and then pointed at his Pokémon. "Krookodile use Giga Impact!"

Ash's Pokémon was surrounded by a purple aura as it headed to clash with Charizard's move.

"GO FOR IT!" Ash yelled as his Pokémon clashed with Charizard, creating a big explosion in mid-air.

"..." Red just looked at the explosion, waiting for the result of the powerful clash.

"Krookodile!" Ash yelled, waiting for his Pokémon to appear.

Suddenly, a roar was heard and after that, a figure appeared from the smoke, and headed to where Ash was, with scratched all over its body. It was Krookodile.

"Krooko!" The Pokémon said with pride, significantly weak after his encounter with the final form of Charmander.

"Yes!" Ash said while looking at his Pokémon, really proud that it managed to survive the clash and came back still standing.

"Good move..." Red said while looking at Ash's side of the field. However, he grinned after this. "But not enough."

A powerful roar emerged from the middle of the air. Ash and his friends, shocked, looked at the center of the smoke, which dissipated to reveal a perfectly healthy Charizard, who was only a little tired. The Pokémon glared at Krookodile, which was scared to still seeing the Pokémon in perfect conditions.

"I admit that Charizard received more damage than expected from your Giga Impact." Red said, as he pointed at Krookodile. "However, your Pokémon is tired and damaged after such powerful attack."

"Damn it..."

"Charizard..." Red pointed at Krookodile, while looking directly at Ash emotionless. "Blast Burn..."

"Blast Burn?! The ultimate fire type move?!" Max asked, making everyone look at him shocked, except Gary. "I read about it in a book that contained the most powerful attacks from Pokémon. If that attack it's powerful as I read, Krookodile will be pretty damaged!"

"Ash, tell Krookodile to dodge the attack!" May yelled, but was stopped by Gary.

"He perfectly knows that he cannot do that." Gary said while pointing at Krookodile. "He risked everything by ordering Krookodile to do that Giga Impact. Now his Pokémon cannot move since it needs to recharge its energy."

"RAAARW!" Charizard unleashed the powerful fire-type move, burning and destroying everything in its path. It was about time before it hit the ground type Pokémon.

"Krookodile! Use Dig!" Ash yelled to his Pokémon.

"Krooko..." The Pokémon, which was kneeling on the floor, replied, trying to gain enough energy to move.

"It's over..." Red said, while closing his eyes and grabbing his cap.

"Come on, Krookodile!" Ash yelled really sad, knowing he could do nothing but hope that his Pokémon regain energy enough to dodge the attack.

"Krooko!"

"BOOOOOOM!" The attack landed and created a big explosion, making it imposible to see the result of the brutal fire type attack.

"Ugh! Such an incredible force!" Dawn said while covering her eyes with her arm.

"It was a direct hit! Was Krookodile defeated?" May asked.

"I don't know..." Misty replied. "But if not, it must have received a considerable damage...enough to make it return to its Pokéball."

As the smoke dissipated from the battle field, Ash's friends could see a little tired Charizard from Red's side, and a completely destroyed arena in Ash's side. However, there were no signs of Ash's Pokémon.

"KROOKODILE!" Ash yelled while seeing his deserted side of the field.

Ash started digging the zone while searching for his Pokémon with such desperation, that he totally forgot about the battle and his only concern was finding his Pokémon. Red returned his Charizard to his Pokéball and remained emotionless and in silence while he looked how the worried Ash searched for his Pokémon.

After digging for a minute, Ash managed to find a pretty damaged Krookodile (not as damaged as Leavanny), with numerous burn marks across its red body. Krookodile's red glasses had completely burned after the attack, leaving only ashes of what it used to be. Ash was crying seeing his Pokémon in such condition.

"Krookodile cannot continue fighting, the victory is for Charizard..." Brock announced and then rushed to help Ash's Krookodile.

"Krookodile, I'm so sorry..." Ash said with sadness in his eyes.

"Kroo..." Krookodile said while smiling at its trainer, in order to cheer him up.

"Come, Krookodile. Take a rest..." Ash said while grabbing a Pokéball and returned his Pokémon to it. He then gave his Pokéball to Brock.

"It's enough..." Red said while trying to walk away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Ash asked with an angry face.

"Battling you right now it's useless." Red said as he looked directly at Ash with a penetrating look. "I'm obviously not fighting Ash Ketchum right now, but an arrogant fool."

"What?!"

"You heard me. After seeing you for the first time and what I heard from your friends, I thought were a kind person that always helped others and treated his Pokémon with respect."

"..." Ash just stayed quiet listening to what his counterpart had to say.

"I wanted to see that through your battling, but instead I found an immature and cocky trainer, who was blinded by victory and thought that he could beat any trainer easily, without analyzing his opponent first. You are disappointing, other me." Red's face was showing somewhat angry.

"What would you know? I finally managed to beat a Pokémon League after participating in five leagues! I tried hard and finally achieved what I yearned for so long!"

"And that gives you the right to behave like an idiot?" Red asked.

"...!"

"That attitude of yours only leads you to no good. Your Pokémon were defeated that easily not because they weren't bad trained, but due to your cockiness and foolishness. No wonder why you haven't managed to become Champion, after travelling for so long."

"You have no right of telling me this! You just travelled through Kanto and stayed there, training, without exploring, meeting new challenges and meeting new people and Pokémon!"

"That's because my journey ended after travelling through the Kanto region."

"Why would that be possible? WE'RE THE SAME PERSON! If that's true, then the only reason I would stop travelling would be..."

Then something hit in Ash's mind. He started to understand the situation:

**Red started his journey with his rival at the same time.**

**His rival became Champion but was defeated minutes later after obtaining the title.**

**Red was capable of defeating two of the Pokémon he used to win the Unova League, without any trouble.**

**He only travelled through the Kanto region.**

This four thoughts were hitting Ash's mind constantly...

"I would only stop travelling..." Ash face started to change from angry to a shocked expression. "...After achieving my dream..."

"I think you have realized by now why I have the right of telling you what you're doing wrong..."

"The one who defeated your rival after becoming Champion...it was you!"

Ash's friends, who were looking at the scene right from the beginning, were shocked after hearing this. Although they didn't asked, they didn't know that it was Red himself who defeated his rival, who had the power enough to take down the whole Elite Four.

"He defeated the Champion in his world?" Misty asked shocked.

"It all makes sense!" Gary said while seeing directly at Red. "His way of battle, the strength of his Pokémon: he's the one who took the title from my counterpart in his world!"

"But...if that's true..." May said.

"...That would mean that..." Max said.

"...Red is..." Dawn said while covering her mouth.

"Although I gave it to Lance to continue training by my own, I'm the one who officially holds the title..."

"No way..." Ash's shocked expression could also reflect great sadness, as tears formed in his eyes. "You're...!"

"Yes. I'm the one who holds the title of Champion in the Kanto region in my world. My full title is **Kanto Champion Red**."

Ash started crying.

**So that was it. Hope you liked it! Remember to read and review! If you like to know what's going to happen next, stay tuned! See you in the next chapter!**


	5. Despair

**Hi, FanFiction Members! This is HollowKU reporting himself for the fifth chapter of this fic! I would like to thank everyone for your reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying how this story is going! Hope you all stay to see the end of the fic... with is not this chapter, of course XD. Anyway, hope you like this chapter!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 5: Despair**

The sun was rising from the hills, illuminating the homes of all the people living in the noble Pallet Town. Families from the entire town were already heading for having breakfast with pleasure, ready to start the new day. However, in a certain house, there were opposite feelings residing.

The usually cheerful home of Ash Ketchum was surrounded by sadness instead. The events that happened in those few days were too much to handle for everyone. Especially for a certain brunette coordinator, who just woke up from a long rest.

She headed out of her room, and instantly headed to the room of Ash, the one she treasured the most. She entered slowly, hoping to find him, only to find the room as empty as she remembered it from last night.

"So...he hasn't come back yet..."

**Flashback (Yesterday)**

"_I'm the one who holds the title of Champion in the Kanto region in my world. My full title is Kanto Champion Red."_

_Ash couldn't be more shocked after hearing Red's statement. He stood in his feet, with no reaction in his face other than completely surprised, still not believing what his counterpart said._

"_K-Kanto Ch-Champion..." Those were the only words that Ash could pronounce._

"_That's right, although I don't feel superior by having it. For me, it's just a title. That's why I prefer to go only as a Pokémon Trainer, because that's what I am."_

"_You became Champion...in your FIRST try!" This words were hitting Ash's pride really hard._

"_That's why I told you from the beginning that this was going serious. I warned you that I could be difficult for you to handle, but you just ignored me."_

_Ash's friends ran from their spots to comfort Ash, who was now kneeling on the floor, still crying and not believing who Red truly was._

"_You're the Champion?! Why didn't you tell us?" Misty yelled._

"_I understand if you didn't want to tell us, but why didn't you tell Ash?!" Gary asked pissed off. "If he knew about this before he would have been really careful when battling you!"_

"_Neither him nor you asked. Also, even if he knew about this before, his reaction would be the same as it is right now."_

"_Although I don't like to admit it, Red's right." Brock told the rest of the group. _

_They all looked at Ash, who couldn't find the strength to look up. He just stayed there. Although they tried to comfort him, they knew one thing: just those two battles demonstrated the difference of power between the counterparts._

"_Come on, Ash! Pull yourself together!" May kneeled and tried to cheer Ash up._

"_Well, now that you know the truth..." Red grabbed another Pokéball from his bag. "Do you feel like battling right now?" _

"_N-no..." Ash finally found the strength to get up and looked directly at his counterpart. "Red...I'm s-sorry!"_

_After saying this, Ash ran away from the scene as fast as he could, with Pikachu following him, while his friends looked at him heading to a random direction. May tried to catch up with him, but was stopped by Brock, who thought that it would be best to give him time to think and trying to assimilate all the information. Red just turned back, and summoned his Charizard again and flown away, without saying a single word._

**End of the Flashback**

"After that, Brock had to declare a tie since both Ash and Red retired from the battle." May thought, still worrying where Ash could be.

She then went downstairs to enter the kitchen, since it was already breakfast time. As she entered, she found a completely different scenario from the other day.

Ms. Ketchum, who always had a cheerful smile in her face when working, had instead a really worried face. Her son was the only think she could think about. This worried her so much that she needed Brock and Misty's help to prepare breakfast, since she wasn't in the mood. Dawn was trying to calm down Gary, who was still shocked of how easily Red defeated two of Ash's Pokémon. Finally, Max, who was already sitting near the table, was only looking to it like if he was in some kind of trance.

"Good morning." May said calmly, even though she knew that things weren't alright. "Any news about Ash?"

"No." Brock was the one who replied, since the others were too shocked to reply.

"I see..." The coordinator sighed and started helping by setting the table for breakfast.

During breakfast, no one said a word. They all ate their respective plates unusually calmed and really slow. Ms. Ketchum didn't even touch her plate. Since she was not in the mood, she just ate two bites and put her dish on the sink, and then headed upstairs.

May, who ate really fast because she was really nervous, she left her plate in the sink and left the room, but not before she asked something that was expected, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"Then what about _Red_? Did he return?"

The sole mention of his name made everyone in the room get nervous. Brock just stayed still while both Misty and Dawn looked to each other, really worried. Gary was feeling helpless, making a fist after hearing Ash's counterpart name. Max, who had already relaxed and was eating his breakfast, stopped and went into trance again, completely ignoring everyone else.

"Yes, he did." Brock broke the awkward silence. "He's outside, training."

"Good." May replied, headed to the door and went outside, searching for the now-feared trainer.

As she reached the Ketchum garden, she found six Pokémon training on their own. She recognized this Pokémon as Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Snorlax, and Pikachu.

"So, this is Red's team..." The young coordinator thought.

She then saw that they were paired to practice their battle skills. Charizard started attacking with Flamethrower at Venosaur, which dodged the attack by using Vine Whip. Snorlax used Giga Impact on Blastoise, which he replied with a powerful Hydro Pump, managing to hold back Snorlax. Finally, Pikachu used a Thunder attack on Espeon, which used Psychic to counter the attack and returned the attack to the electric-type Pokémon. Pikachu then used Iron Tail and managed to absorb the electricity with his tail and then proceded to attack Espeon with an electrified Iron Tail.

May was impressed to see such skills in those Pokémon. She knew already from the battle between Ash and Red that those Pokémon were really well-trained, but she never guessed that they managed to practice and come up with skills by their own. That led to a really interesting question: where was Red? Brock told her that he was training outside, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Do you need something?"

May heard a voice from her back. She jumped in fear and fell to the floor. The voice really took her by surprise. She then looked up to see who scared her. She recognized Red, but she noticed that he was shirtless and without his cap. She couldn't help but blush really hard when she looked at the well-built body of his crush's counterpart. Red noticed this but didn't say a thing.

"U-um..." May stuttered at first, but then returned to her senses and stood up firmly. "I need your help."

"My help? For what?" Red asked.

"In finding Ash." May replied, while looking directly at Red. "He hasn't returned home since yesterday, and everyone is really worried about where he is right now."

"..." Red just remained in silence.

"Come on! I know that you're mad at him for his performance yesterday, but I have to tell you that he's better than that!" May yelled at Red. "I had the opportunity to travel with him across the Hoenn and Kanto region, and I can assure you that he gives his all when it comes to Pokémon battling. You just happened to find him in his worse shape."

"..." Red just looked at her eyes, that showed a powerful determination. This made Red smile, as he grabbed his clothes and put them on. "Ok, I'll help you."

"Thanks. Now let's get going. I have an idea where he might be." May said as she went in one direction, but was stopped by a comment from Red.

"You know, it's ok to blush. After all, I am _him_."

This comment made May blush furiously as she walked away, with an annoyed face. Red chuckled, returned his Pokémon to its Pokéballs and followed May.

**Ash's POV**

WHY? WHY? WHY?!

What did I do wrong?

"_I'm Red..."_

I raised my Pokémon well! I raised them with love, and treated them as my partners!

"_I've come from another world: a parallel world, to be exact."_

Finally, when I had achieved to become the winner of a Pokémon League, the thing that I yearned for so long after travelling through FIVE regions, _he _appears!

"_I only went through the Kanto region."_

_He_, who is practically _me_, has become one of the most powerful trainers in his world during his FIRST journey!

_"So you think you have more experience than me because I only travelled through Kanto? You're underestimating me..."_

...Was he right?

"_I will not be responsible for the condition of your Pokémon once this battle begins."_

Was I getting full of myself?

_"I told you from the beginning that this was going serious."_

Was I blinded by my own pride?

_"Battling you right now it's useless. I'm obviously not fighting Ash Ketchum right now, but an arrogant fool."_

...By winning the League, I...became an _arrogant fool_?

"_And that gives you the right to behave like an idiot?"_

I failed to my Pokémon?

"_Your Pokémon were defeated that easily not because they were bad trained, but due to your cockiness and foolishness. No wonder why you haven't managed to become Champion, after travelling for so long."_

...He is...

_"I think you have realized by now why I have the right of telling you what you're doing wrong..."_

...I still can't believe it...

"_I'm the one who holds the title of Champion in the Kanto region in my world. My full title is __**Kanto Champion Red**__."_

...the Champion...

"_My full title is Kanto Champion Red."_

...No...

"_Kanto Champion Red."_

...Please...no...

"_Champion Red."_

...Please stop it...

"_Champion."_

...STOP IT!

"CHUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"ARGHHHHHH!" I felt a horrible yet familiar feeling as I screamed. It was a Thunderbolt.

When it stopped, I looked to where it come from, only to see my loyal and most dear friend, Pikachu, who was looking at me with such a worried face.

"_That's funny. He noticed that I was still thinking about the Champion thing. He certainly is my first Pokémon._"

"Thanks, Pikachu. I really needed it."

"Pikapi!" Pikachu replied the smile as he jumped to my shoulder and got itself comfortable as always.

**Normal POV**

"Ok. We're almost at the entrance of Pallet Town, so Ash must be somewhere here." May said.

"..." As usual, Red remained in silence.

"Ash told me some time ago that there was a hill outside Pallet Town that had a beautiful view of the whole town. I'm pretty sure he went there."

"And I still have no idea why I'm here..."

"It's the least you can do. We're searching Ash because you broke him."

"That doesn't mean that what I said wasn't true." Red looked at the brunette. "He was cocky and arrogant. That's why his Pokémon were badly damaged after the battle."

"Maybe that was true, but that doesn't mean that Ash is a weak trainer. I can actually talk about for him, since it's thanks to him that I'm here."

"...?" Red looked at May with a puzzled look.

"When I started my journey, I didn't like Pokémon at all. I just used my journey as an excuse to travel across the world. It wasn't until I met Ash that I realized I was wrong. He taught me how to battle, even though I preferred contests, and also taught me how wonderful it was to have Pokémon as your companions. With his help, I managed to overcome many difficult moments. I don't think I wouldn't have got this far without his help."

"..." Red just remained in silence, but a bit surprised of what May just said.

"Like you said, he may be cocky, but he's no bad person. I've see him lost battles due to that simple fact, but he eventually overcomes it and manage to win and succeed." After that, Red smiled. "What's with the smile?"

"It's nothing." Red replied, still with the smile in his face.

"Ok. Oh look! There he is!" May said as she pointed the hill she mentioned about, specifically in the center of it, where both could see the silhouette of the young trainer along with his Pikachu. Red stayed behind, seeing that maybe Ash seeing him right now was not the best idea.

After reaching the hill...

"May? What are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"I figured out you would be here after the events of yesterday." May replied.

"Oh, right..." Ash said with a sad voice.

"Oh, come on Ash!" May said while looking at the trainer. "You didn't even come to sleep. Everyone is worried about you!"

"..."

"I know that you're depressed, but you'll overcome this! Even Red himself recognized that you hadn't given your all at the battle!"

"May...do you think I'm a bad trainer?"

"...What?"

"It's just that...I recognize that every time I have a battle I'm really confident about me winning. But yesterday...it was different. Not only had I believed that I was going to win, but that I would also wipe out Red completely. That made me completely oblivious about the battle and ended up terribly."

"Of course you're not a bad trainer, Ash! In fact, I think that you're one of the most kind and powerful trainers I've ever seen!"

"But Leavanny and Krookodile ended really hurt just because me being so reckless... even if I won the Pokémon League, I don't feel like a winner anymore..."

"Ash..."

"I wonder what would have happened if thing would have gone differently to me..."

"What do you mean?" May wondered.

"I'm wondering what would have happened if I won the Pokémon League in the Indigo Plateau, just like Red. What would have happened?"

"Are you regretting the fact that you lost back there?" May asked with a confused look.

"Maybe a little...it's just that after seeing Red's power in battle..." Ash couldn't finish as he was interrupted.

"You're kidding right?!" May's voice was starting to show signs of anger.

"What...?" Ash scared after seeing May's sudden anger.

"So you're saying that you regret travelling through the other regions?"

"Well, it wouldn't have been necessary to travel through them if I won the League..." Ash replied camly.

"Then you're regretting all the adventures you had? Winning the League was more important to you than all your friends and rivals you met: than meeting Max, than meeting Dawn, than meeting ME?!" Ash then realized what he was saying. He tried to take it back.

"N-no, that's not what I meant..."

"Then tell me EXACTLY what you meant!" May yelled to Ash, with tears forming in her eyes.

"U-um..." Ash was trying to find an escape, with no good results.

"That's what I thought..." May then turned back and was starting to leave.

"May, wait! It's not what you think!" Ash said, trying to make May stay.

"I can't believe you chose that stupid title instead of your bonds with us!"

"...!"

After saying this, May left the scene running while tears coming down to her cheeks. Ash was starting to feel horrible.

"Is it true? I really cherish more the title than my bonds?" Ash kneeled, while having this question in his mind.

"I know what you're feeling." A voice could be heard from behind Ash. It was Red.

"W-What do you want, Red?" Ash asked while rising from the floor, a little bothered by the presence of his counterpart. Pikachu, who was in the floor, was releasing little sparks from its red cheeks.

"I used to think like you. Claiming the title of the strongest trainer was my primary goal. There was nothing more important." Red replied to his counterpart. "However, I experienced many things that changed my life during my journey. Many of them were horrible, like dealing with the Team Rocket of my world. Those things make me see that there were more important things than the title."

"But you're just saying that because you had managed to obtain the title." Ash replied to his counterpart.

"..." Red was starting to get pissed off for the first time in many years.

"I never meant what I said to May. I only said it without thinking. I only wished I could be more like you..." Ash couldn't finish, as he was grabbed from his shirt by Red, who pulled him really close.

"Now listen to me..." Red was really angry. "I'll only say this once..."

"..." Ash was looking really scared at the red eyes of his counterpart. Even Pikachu did nothing when it saw the eyes of the trainer.

"**I AM I, AND YOU ARE YOU!**" Red shouted with all his might. He hadn't been this angry before, not even with his rival Blue. After shouting, he pushed Ash to the floor and then returned to his usual calmed state. "Even if we're technically the same, we're completely different. Even if I defeated you easily yesterday, that doesn't make you a weak trainer. Try to think what makes you unique." After saying this he left the scene and returned to Pallet Town, leaving a really confused Ash, who was now looking at the Electric-type.

"What makes me...unique?"

**In the next chapter...**

**Ash:** What makes me unique? What could it be?

**Red:** It seems that you have finally come to your senses...

**Ash:** Thank you, Red. Now I see what makes me different from you.

**May:** Ash's Pokémon team... aren't they...?

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 6: Resolve**

**Ash:** Ok then, Red. It's time to show you what I'm TRULY made of!

**Red:** Show me your true strength... other me...

**That's right! Now I post a little preview of the next chapter, including the title of it! Hope you liked this chapter! Remember to review. I have to say that this chapter didn't go the way I originally thought, but it went really good anyways. Let's see how Ash handle things the next chapter! See ya!**


	6. Resolve

**Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU ready for the next chapter of The Parallel Challenger! I must admit that this chapter was really hard to write, since I had a lot of ideas on how it should develop to the final confrontation of Ash and Red, and this is the LONGEST chapter I have ever written on FanFiction. Anyway, since this chapter contains reference to years and ages from the characters, I'll include here the ages of the protagonists.**

**Ash- 16 years old**

**Red- 17 years old**

**Misty- 17 years old**

**May- 14 years old**

**Dawn- 13 years old**

**Brock- 22 years old**

**Gary- 17 years old**

**Max- ALMOST 10 years old**

**Tracey- 18 years old**

**Prof. Oak- WHO KNOWS?! XD**

**Well now...to the fic! Remember to read and review!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 6: Resolve**

"What makes me...unique?"

Those words were hitting Ash's mind constantly. It was the first time he ever asked himself this. In other times, he would have no problem in answering this question, but after meeting _him_, he really was having a hard time trying to answer.

At first he thought it was their difference in power. It was obvious, after that performance, how strong and well-skilled Red's Pokémon team was. He overpowered him completely, and it was sure that if he even dared to challenge him again, he would have to be extremely careful when dealing with him. He then dropped the idea. It wouldn't make sense that Red was trying to intimidate him. He obviously was trying to help... in his _own _way.

He then started to think about their personality. Red's silent way opposite to his usual cheerful attitude could make sense in how they were completely different from each other. However, minutes later he also dropped this idea. He felt that Red's true meaning behind those words were even more personal, as if he was saying to him to search in the deeps of himself.

As he was trying to find the answer, another thought started to hit his mind, that made him felt really...miserable...

"_I can't believe you chose that stupid title instead of your bonds with us!"_

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Ash smashed the ground with his hands repeatedly, saying only those two words.

It was never his intention to hurt May. It was never his intention to say what he said.

...But he did it anyway.

"Of course I wouldn't..." Ash repeated to himself.

He then started to remember all of his adventures...starting in his first day in Kanto...

He overslept the day he was supposed to receive his first Pokémon. Still in pajamas, he ran to Prof. Oak's lab, only to find his rival, Gary Oak, who was just leaving after receiving his first Pokémon and the last one from Prof. Oak. Ash freaked out when he discovered that there was no Pokémon left for him...except one. Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon was his only option. He went to his journey with the disobedient Pokémon. At first, it drove him crazy with its attitude, but then he was able to prove its worth to his Pokémon after protecting it from a group of enraged Spearow. After that they became inseparable and became best friends.

During his journeys, he met numerous companions and amazing friends that helped him to develop as a Pokémon Trainer.

Misty, the noisy but caring red headed tomboy, a Water-type Pokémon Trainer and Leader of the Cerulean City Gym. He met her at a waterfall outside of Pallet Town. She rescued him unintentionally when she was fishing near the waterfall. He then borrowed her bicycle since he was escaping from the Spearow. After that incident, Misty joined him in his journey, travelling with him all the region of Kanto, the Orange Islands and the region of Johto. Close friends from the beginning that constantly argued during their travel. One of his closest friends.

Brock, the squinted-eyes ex-Gym Leader of Pewter City. His best friend and the one that took care of everyone, the responsible of the group. He met him at his Gym in Pewter, challenging him for the Boulder Badge. After losing once to him and won by a trick in his second battle, Brock was impressed by his confidence and gave him the badge, and then joined him on his journey. Always by his side, Brock accompanied him through the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh regions and was the official chef of the group.

Tracey, the Pokémon watcher. He joined him during his journey through the Orange Islands. Unlike normal trainers, he liked to study the true nature of Pokémon and constantly draw the Pokémon he liked to his personal research. From the beginning he showed his respect to Prof. Oak's research and wanted to meet him personally. Even though he was a full trainer, his Pokémon were really helpful in finding people and Pokémon and hearing faint sounds.

Gary, his first rival. Even since they were kids, they were constantly arguing and tried to prove who was the very best. Always arrogant and really confident, he was always mocking him and making him look like a poor trainer. They rivalry ended at their final battle at the Silver Conference in Johto, with him defeating Gary. After that they became friends, and Gary resigned from being a Pokémon trainer and started to follow his gramps' path. Even after that, Gary was the one that pushed him to continue improving himself, as he was the one who made him decide to travel through Johto and he also made him decide go to Sinnoh after his triumph at the Battle Frontier.

Max, his youngest friend and the 'brain' of the group. He first met him at the Petalburg City Gym posing as the Gym Leader to Ash. Even though at first Max mocked him due to his loss at the Silver Conference, he eventually started to respect him and became his role model as a trainer. Even though he didn't have a Pokémon, since he was only seven years old, he knew a lot from Pokémon, including their moves and battle strategies with them, reason by why he was the one who took care of the Pokémon Navigator AKA Pokénav.

Dawn, the blue-haired coordinator. Ash first met Dawn at the Sinnoh region, when his Pikachu was heavily injured after a battle against Team Rocket. He was separated from Pikachu after the battle, and it was Dawn who found Pikachu and returned it to him. After that they started travelling along with Brock across the Sinnoh region, succeeding in Gym battles and Contest performances. Although she was constantly worried about her hair, like no one of his previous companions, she was really kind and always cheered him up during his battles.

Iris, the aspiring Dragon Master and one of his Unova companions. He first met her during his way to his first gym battle. Confusing her with a Pokémon, he threw a Pokéball at her, hoping to 'capture' her, obviously failing at it. After that, she followed him while always calling him a little kid due to his rush decisions and his ignorance in some basic matters to her. Even with that, she still supported him in his battles and was really helpful when it came to heal Pokémon. As time passed he managed to gain her respect and became a really nice friend.

Cilan, the Pokémon Connoisseur and one of the Gym Leaders of Striaton City. He met him at Striaton City, where he was going to challenge the Gym Leader. Cilan guided him to the gym, where it was also a restaurant. After that, he revealed himself as one of the Gym Leaders and accepted his challenge. He challenged Cilan and his brothers and won, earning the badge. Impressed by his abilities as a trainer, Cilan decided to join him on his journey in order to learn the secrets in how to become the best Pokémon Connoisseur. He was the chef of the group after Brock left, and always looked for logical answers, opposite of Iris' superstitions.

Finally...May. The brunette coordinator. He first met her at the Hoenn region, after he found his ill Pikachu and fought Team Rocket afterwards. When he first met her, she was clumsy and didn't like Pokémon at all: she just picked her Torchic since she found it the cutest of the starter trio. Since she wasn't interested in Pokémon, she was overpowered in her first battles. He then started to teach her everything he knew about Pokémon battling, including the basic of attacks and strategies. She eventually turned down the Gym challenges and decided to become a coordinator. Even after this, he still helped her in improving his performances, feeling proud when she won a contest and guilty when she lost one, blaming himself for not train with her enough. Eventually she became better and managed to defeat her eternal rival..._Drew_...in the Kanto Grand Festival. She then left to Johto since their rivals went there to compete in the local contests.

Ash couldn't help but smile after remembering all the adventures he had with his friends. They were always by his side no matter what happened, and watched him evolve as a Pokémon Trainer. He wouldn't change them for anything.

He then recalled what he told to May...

"_I'm wondering what would have happened if I won the Pokémon League in the Indigo Plateau, just like Red. What would have happened?"_

Easy, he thought. He would have managed to become a powerful trainer, and everyone would recognize him as one of the most powerful trainers they have ever seen. He could have been famous, for winning a League at the age of 10. He could have got everything...

...

...

...Except for true bonds...

It was clear to him that he already had friends like Misty and Brock, but maybe the ego would have gone too far at that time, maybe doing something he would have regret. After all, he was really immature at that age. He _still_ is. If it wasn't for his friends, he wouldn't have gone that far as a trainer...

Then something hit his mind. It was all clear now.

"Thank you, Red. Now I see what makes me different from you."

He then smiled and got up while looking at the sight of his hometown, while his loyal partner climbed up to his shoulder, giving its usual smile. Ash replied the smile and returned to Pallet Town.

"Ok then. But first...I need to make a call."

**Meanwhile, in Pallet Town...**

"...and HE DIDN'T EVEN ANSWER!"

At the Ketchum residence, a young brunette was crying really hard in the arms of a redhead, who along a blunette and the woman in charge of the house were trying to cheer her up at the guest room where the brunette was staying. The boys were waiting downstairs since the girls insisted they would take care since they could understand her better than they do.

"Don't worry May. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it." Dawn replied to her crying friend.

"I really know my son, May. He may be kind of blind when it comes to his career as a Pokémon Trainer, but he's no bad person." Ms. Ketchum also told to the coordinator. "I agree with Dawn. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it."

"But then why he didn't answer?" May asked, a little more calmed, but still crying. "I gave him the chance to take back what he said, and HE DIDN'T!"

"Maybe you're taking things too personal, May." Misty said calmly to her friend. "Look into Ash's point of view. He recently won the Pokémon League, a thing he dreamed about for years, and days later after that he is overpowered in battle not by anybody, but practically another version of himself, who is the Champion from where he is from and has been it from a very long time!"

"..." May just looked at the redhead, without saying anything.

"It was already hard to him when Red defeated him! Imagine how he felt when his joy of winning the League after years of trying was destroyed after Red told him he already achieved that at the start of his journey!"

"..." May just looked at the floor, thinking of what just Misty said to her.

"...You really love him, don't you?" Misty asked to her with a smile in her face.

"What...?"

"It is pretty obvious, May. Even Red, who barely knows you, noticed that." Dawn replied to her, also with a smile in her face.

"..." May blushed at the comment, and then looked at the girls and woman. "Y-yes, I do...wait a minute! I thought you two-"

"Don't worry. I don't see him that way, although many people have said otherwise." Dawn interrupted the brunette, but still answering the question. "I look to him more like the older brother I'll never have."

"I have to kind of agree with you though, May." Misty replied. "I loved him, but after we went separate ways after our travelling in Johto, my feelings started to fade away. I thought I had a chance when I met with you in Hoenn, but then I saw that I had competition and that only increased when you returned from Hoenn to travel with him again for the Battle Frontier. I still had to take care of my gym, so I couldn't have the chance to actually travel with him again."

"I'm sorry, Misty...I didn't know that you..."

"It's ok. I have already got over it. In fact, during all that time without Ash, there was someone else who was always by my side..." Misty said with a little blush.

"Is it...?"

"It's a secret!" Misty replied with a wink.

"Well, with that being said, do you feel better now, May?" Ms. Ketchum asked the young coordinator.

"Well, I certainly do. I'm still a little mad at him for not answering properly, but now I understand why he reacted like that. I'll give him time to explain himself." May replied while standing up.

"I'm sure he will..."

A deep but familiar voice could be heard from the door, which was now open, revealing a young trainer, with a red cap with a red with white jacket and a black shirt, with blue jeans.

"Red..."

"Don't worry about him. I already talk to him after you left. I'm pretty sure he'll notice what he's doing wrong." Red said as he turned back to the stairs.

"Wait!" May stopped her crush's counterpart. "Was he...sad?"

"...That's a question that the other me should answer, not me." Red replied as he headed to stairs.

"Where are you going?" May asked.

"Prof. Oak's Lab." Red replied still going down to the first floor. "If I'm right about the other me, I need to heal my Pokémon now. They had a rough training in the morning."

After that, Red was out of sight, and then the entrance door could be heard opening and closing. Just after Red left, Gary, Brock and Max went upstairs to meet with the girls.

"What happened? He just got here and he suddenly left!" Brock said.

"I...don't know." May replied.

"Red told us that he talked to Ash just after May. It seems that he knows that Ash will recover himself and return, but he said something about healing his Pokémon at Prof. Oak's lab if he was right..." Dawn said.

"Why would he do that? It's not like he's going to battle soon right?" Max asked.

"...No way!" Gary yelled, making everyone gasp.

"What's the matter, Gary? You don't have to yell!" Misty replied angry to the young Pokémon researcher.

"I have to! I know why Red's going to heal his Pokémon! He thinks that Ash will challenge him again!"

"WHAT?" Everyone else in the room said.

"But there's no way..." Misty said.

"After what we saw yesterday..." It was Dawn's turn to talk.

"Even Ash wouldn't be so reckless..." Max said.

"I don't know...maybe he's right." May said, as everyone in the room looked at her.

"What are you talking about? If Ash fights Red again, it could end horribly!" Misty said to the brunette.

"I know what you're saying, but remember what Red said during the battle. He knew Ash wasn't giving his best during the battle, and that's why he stopped the battle after defeating two of his Pokémon. There must be a reason why he wants to battle Ash at his full potential!"

"But that's crazy!" Max replied to his sister. "Red is the CHAMPION! Ash hasn't even defeated a single Elite Four! How can he defeat him?"

"Why is everyone like this?!" May asked a little bothered. "I may be worried of his battle, I may be angry at Ash for what happened a while ago, but I still trust him! We all supported Ash to the end in EVERY single occasion. Even against the Elites!" No one replied.

"I know that you're scared of what could happen, but that doesn't mean that Ash is going to lose! Red has faith in him, so we need to have faith in him as well. Ash needs us more than ever!" May said to the group.

"...May's right. I'm sorry. After what I saw yesterday, I was really afraid of Red..." Max said.

"Me too. He's the most powerful trainer I have ever seen, so I only keep quiet and scared and did nothing to help Ash..." Gary replied.

"Well, now's not the time to worry about it, right?" May said to them. "If Red's right, then Ash must be on his way to Prof. Oak's lab!"

"Ok then, let's go!"

**At Prof. Oak's Lab...**

"Professor! Are you here?" Ash was knocking the door really hard.

"Stop it, please! The Professor's working!" The voice of a young man could be heard in the other side of the door.

"Tracey, it's me Ash! Please open the door!"

"Ash?!" Tracey gasped. "Ok, don't worry, I'll open the door!"

"Thanks!" Ash said as he entered to the lab. "Where's the professor?"

"It's in his office. Come with me!" Tracey said as he headed upstairs with Ash.

After arriving, they found Prof. Oak sleeping in his desk, with tons of papers near him, and an almost finished cup of coffee. They could see that he was really tired.

"Professor, I knew this would happen!" Tracey went to where the Prof. was and woke him up. "Even if this is important, you need to get a rest!"

"Maybe you're right...but I am 'this' close to complete my research!" Prof. Oak said while using his fingers as a reference when he said 'this'. He then noticed Ash was standing there too. "A-Ash! It's good to see you! Red's already waiting-"

"Yes, I know. Professor, I need a favor from you." Ash replied to .

"Of course! Anything for you, Ash. So, what can I do for you?"

**After a few minutes...**

"I wonder if this is a good idea..." Max asked.

"We're almost there, Max. We need to support Ash more than ever, so please don't complain about it!" His sister replied to him.

"Ok..."

"Look, here we are!" May said while running to the door of Prof. Oak's Lab. "Professor! Are you here-"

"Shhh!" The door suddenly opened, revealing the Pokémon watcher who was trying to make everyone keep in silence. "Go to the back door..." he whispered as he closed the door.

The group went to the back entrance of the lab like Tracey told them, and found Prof. Oak's garden transformed into a battle arena. It didn't matter anyway, since Red's Charizard's Blast Burn burned and destroyed half of Prof. Oak's garden. On one side of the field, they could see Red standing firmly while grabbing his cap, as he usually did.

Suddenly, a door could be heard opening, revealing Tracey Sketchit, Prof. Oak and...

"Ash..." May said while looking to her crush as he walked to his side of the battlefield with his Pikachu. Prof. Oak and Tracey joined the group.

"It seems that you have finally come to your senses..." Even by the distance, Red voice could be heard.

"I truly have. I really need to thank you for that, Red..." Ash replied with his usual smile. "I have realized what truly matters, what is the most important to me..." Ash then looked at his friends.

"Everyone...my friends..."

"...!" Everyone except Red and Ash were shocked by Ash's statement.

"I have realized that when I first started my journey, I wasn't as sharp as you, Red. I really made foolish mistakes, and I don't like to admit it...but I really sucked during my first battles. I'm really surprised that I have got this far."

"..." Red remained in silence as usual.

"But then, they were always there. Whenever I made a mistake, they were there to make me realize it and helped me to improve. Whenever I was down after a loss, they were there to cheer me up. Whenever I was nervous or not confident, they were always there to give me the strength I needed. They were the only ones that were supporting me after all this time. Even if they followed their own paths, they were always rooting for me, as I did for them. I have realized it now. Without them, the Champion title, or even the Master title would mean **nothing** to me..."

"RAWRRRRRR!" A powerful roar could be heard from the distance, as a dragon-like silhouette appeared in the sky, heading to the lab.

"What? Isn't that...?" Misty asked.

"With that being said..." Ash said as he grabbed four Pokéballs and threw them to the sky, as they opened and released four flashes of lights. "This is my Pokémon team for this battle."

The four lights revealed four powerful Pokémon. One was a really big Pokémon that started to yawn like if it was tired. Other was a green lizard Pokémon, which grabbed its trademark stick and put it on its mouth while crossing its arms. The other was a brown with white ape, which head was covered in fire. Last, the other Pokémon was a crocodile-like dark red colored Pokémon, with black parts across all over its body. Finally, the dragon-like Pokémon from before arrived to the scene, revealed to be an orange dragon with a yellow belly, and its tail was emanating a big flame. Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder to join the five Pokémon.

"Ash's Pokémon team...aren't they...?" May asked shocked to see her crush's team.

"This Pokémon gathered here are my strongest Pokémon from each of my journeys." Ash said while pointing at them. "But not only that. Each of them represents my bonds with all the friends I made in each journey. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova. Not only my friends are going to look, but they'll also help me win this battle, through my Pokémon!"

"..." Red looked at the state of his Pokémon.

"After you defeated me, I was afraid of you. _But not anymore_. You may be the ultimate trainer from where you come, but now I feel that is the same reason why I must battle you again, but now with all my strength!" Ash said as he pointed at his counterpart. "**Kanto Champion Red**, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

After that, everything went silent. No one said anything, with Ash still pointing at his counterpart and Red just looking at him in silence. Everyone wondered when the awkward silence would end, since Red still needed to answer...

"..." Red smiled while he grabbed his cap. "I see that I'll finally get to battle the real you. I accept your challenge..."

"Ok then, Red. It's time to show you what I'm TRULY made of!" Ash said with grin on his face.

"Show me your true strength... other me..." Red replied while grabbing a Pokéball.

**Meanwhile, with the group...**

"Did you just hear what Ash said?" Max asked.

"We...are what he cherish the most..." Dawn said while wiping a few tears.

"He even said that the Champion AND Master title didn't mean nothing if we weren't with him. He sure isn't the same Ashy-boy that I met years ago." Gary said while grinning.

"Well, I guess Ash has just apologized for what he said earlier, right May?" Misty asked to the brunette.

"Yeah..." May replied with a big smile on her face. "Wait a minute...wasn't Krookodile badly hurt?"

"You can thank me and Prof. Oak." Brock said while grabbing a gold pointy mineral from his bag and showed it to the group. "This is called a Max Revive. It can heal Pokémon instantly, both their health and their status. They are extremely rare, but luckily we were able to get one after the battle with Red."

"But isn't it dangerous to let Krookodile battle again? After all he will be battling Red's Pokémon again..." Max asked.

"We tried to stop it from battling, but it had a powerful determination to fight Red again. Not even Ash could stop it, so he decided to use him in this decisive battle." Prof. Oak replied.

**Returning to the counterparts...**

"Snorlax..." Red's Pokéball opened, revealing the powerful Sleeping Pokémon.

"So Snorlax like the last battle?" Ash said while looking at his own Snorlax. "What do you think, buddy? Want to take him on?"

"Snorlax!" The Pokémon nodded and went to the battle field.

"Then I'll be the referee of this battle like the last time." Brock said as he approached to the battlefield. "This is the battle between Ash and Red, both from Pallet Town! The rules will be the same from last time! Ready both contestants?"

"..." Red just nodded in silence.

"Let's do this!" Ash said while pointing at Red's Snorlax. "Snorlax, use Mega Punch!"

"Snorlax!" Snorlax charged at the other Pokémon with his punch emanating a powerful light aura.

"Dodge it..." Red replied.

Ash's Snorlax arrived to where Red's Snorlax was, and started attacking. Unlucky to him, that Snorlax was too fast to let him land a hit. Ash's Snorlax continued trying to hit the other Snorlax, without luck.

"Come on, Snorlax! Now use Body Slam!"

"Snorlax!" The Pokémon nodded as he charged at full speed to the other one, ready to impact with it.

"Jump..." Red ordered as he saw his Pokémon obeying his order. "Giga Impact..."

The Pokémon, now in the air, was starting to being engulfed by a massive purple aura, and now was heading directly to collide with Ash's Snorlax...

"That's not going to work for a second time!" Ash said. "Snorlax, use Mega Punch on the ground quickly!"

"Snorlax!" The Pokémon obeyed and released a powerful blow on the ground, making lots of rocks head to different directions, as well as a dense sandstorm from the ground.

The rocks that went flying to the air collided with the Giga Impact, and even though they didn't stop Red's Snorlax, they made the attack to reduce its massive power. Also, the smoke from the ground blinded Red's Snorlax a little, making it to crash some meters away from Ash's. After the crash, Red's Snorlax got up with no scratches, but still tired from the powerful attack.

"Good job, buddy!" Ash said. "Snorlax, charge at him and use Ice Punch!"

"Snorlax!" The Pokémon obeyed and went to where the other Snorlax was, hitting him with the Ice Punch.

"...!" Red reacted as he saw his companion being froze by the attack.

"Snorlax, go back and use your most powerful Hyper Beam!"

"Snor...LAAAAX!"

The Sleeping Pokémon released the powerful Normal type attack directly to the other Pokémon, which was still frozen by the Ice Punch. The attack collided with Red's Pokémon, making a big amount of dust cover the attacked Pokémon.

"Did he win?" Max asked to the group

"No." Ash, who had heard what the little kid said, replied to him. "This is just the beginning..."

"..." Red smiled at his counterpart's statement as he grabbed his cap. "Body Slam..."

After that, Red's Snorlax appeared from the smoke, jumping and heading to where Ash's Snorlax was...

"Snorlax, counter it with Mega Punch!"

"Snorlax!" The Pokémon obeyed and jumped to collide with the other Snorlax.

After that, Red's Snorlax weight was too much to handle for Ash's Snorlax, and they both crash into the ground, making a big hole on it.

"Snorlax!" Ash yelled worried for his Pokémon.

After that, a Snorlax jumped to Red's side of the field, revealing to be his Snorlax. Just after that, Ash's Snorlax appeared from the smoke, breathing heavily because of all the damage. It was barely standing...

"Snorlax, come on! You can do this!" Ash cheered on his Pokémon.

"Snor...lax! Snorlax!" The Pokémon stood firmly, ready for round two.

"Ok, let's finish this! Snorlax, give your best Ice Punch!"

The Sleeping Pokémon started his attack to the Pokémon, who was also a little tired from the previous attack.

"Snorlax...counter with Blizzard..." Red ordered his Pokémon.

The powerful Ice attack was released from Red's Snorlax, heading directly to Ash's Snorlax...

"GO!"

With a mighty force, Ash's Snorlax received the Blizzard, and started to freeze slowly, but still heading where Red's Snorlax was. Its belly, and part of his head were already frozen, but that didn't stop him...

"SNOR...LAX!"

The attack landed on its original target, making Red's Snorlax collide with a tree nearby, with scratches all over his body due to the attack. Ash's Snorlax stood in the position it was when it punched Red's, since he was now completely frozen from the Blizzard.

"Snorlax!" Ash yelled for his Pokémon.

"..." Red looked at the condition of his Pokémon, and then returned his gaze to Ash's Pokémon. "Snorlax, finish it with Body Slam..."

The Pokémon got up with difficulties but still obeyed his trainer's orders, jumping high and landing directly at the frozen Pokémon. All except Red were shocked to see that there was still much energy from Red's Pokémon. Well, he wasn't Champion for nothing...

After that, Red's Snorlax jumped back, breathing heavily but still in his battle position, waiting for the outcome. Suddenly, the ice that was holding Ash's Snorlax back started cracking, to finally revealing the Sleeping Pokémon really tired and hurt...

"Snor...lax..." And with that, Ash's Snorlax fell backwards, as swirls formed in his eyes, showing that the battle was over for him...

"Snorlax, no!"

"Ash's Snorlax cannot continue battling! The victory is for Red's Snorlax!" Brock said as he pointed the winner with his arm. After that, Ash grabbed Snorlax's Pokéball and returned him to it.

"Ash lost the first battle..." Dawn said a little sad.

"Well, he still did a lot more damage than his previous battle with Red. Since he's challenging a Champion, that's great news..." Gary remarked.

"Well, let's see how he does in the next round..." Misty said.

"Good job, Snorlax. You deserve a good rest." Ash said while returning his Pokémon to his bag.

"...I must say that you have impressed me." Red said while returning his own Snorlax to his Pokéball. "No one has ever done that much damage to my Snorlax before...well, at least not that fast. I was right after all. You hide more potential than I imagined..."

"Well, you may have won this round, but this is just getting started!" Ash said while pointing at Red with a smile.

"So true..." Red said as he grabbed another Pokéball. "Venusaur..."

The Pokéball suddenly opened, revealing the final evolution of one of the three starters in the Kanto region. The Pokémon roared its name as it looked who would be its opponent.

"Ok, Venusaur is a Grass-type, so... Charizard, I choose you!" Ash said as his Charizard took flight and went to the battlefield.

"RAWRRRR!" The dragon Pokémon roared greatly as he released a powerful Flamethrower to the sky, showing its strength to the grass type Pokémon. However, Venusaur just stayed calm looking at the dragon with a glare.

"Now, this round will be between Red's Venusaur and Ash's Charizard. Are both contestants ready?"

"Sure!/..." Both replied in their own way.

"Ok, then. BEGIN!"

**In the next chapter...**

**Ash:** Charizard! Look out!

**Red: **It's useless. I trained my Venusaur so it can counter ANY Fire-type attack...

**May: **Without Fire-type attacks, Charizard will be in real trouble!

**Ash: **Come on, Charizard! I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS!"

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 7: Unlocked Potential**

**Ash: **No way! Charizard...?

**Red: **...!

**And that was it! Chapter 6 in its full potential! I hope you liked it. I really worked hard on it, so I want to know what you thought about it by reviewing. I thank Omegaxis1 for his support and help in this chapter. Well, see you in the next chapter!**


	7. Unlocked Potential

**Hi, FanFiction Members! It's HollowKU ready for the next chapter of the Parallel Challenger! Sorry for not updating earlier, but I've been really busy with homework from college, and it has been really a pain to write this chapter with the little amount of time I had free to do it. I would like to thank all the people that had been reading the fic until now. I hope that you like it the way it's going. **

**Well, I would like this little moment to thank a dear friend of mine, ****Omegaxis1****. He has been my friend here in FanFiction for a really long time, almost 4 years, and he has always been supported back then and now. 2 years ago, I dropped writing FanFiction, since I lost the spirit and the enthusiasm of it. However, he still stayed connected and always looked if there was some update from me or the fic. Now, when I returned with this fic, he started reading it, even though he's a Pokéshipper. I really thank him for being such a good friend. With that being said, I would like to say that I DEDICATE this chapter to him, since the main event of this chapter was his idea for a really long time, and now has finally materialized in this fic. Omega, this is for you =)**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 7: Unlocked Potential**

"Ok, then. BEGIN!"

"_This is going to be difficult. Red already defeated one of my most powerful Pokémon, not to mention that his own Snorlax is still able for another round later. Now it's up to Charizard for this round. I have the advantage since its opponent is a Grass-type. Like I said before, this is just getting started!"_

"Ok! Charizard, take flight!" Ash ordered his Pokemon to do the first move.

"RAWRRR!" Charizard obeyed and took flight but stayed in a certain distance to attack.

"..." Red, as always remained in silence, waiting for Ash's move.

"Ok, use Flamethrower!" Ash's first attack was obvious, but still effective.

"RAWRRR!" The Fire type obeyed, unleashing powerful flames right were its opponent was, without any effort. Well, he hasn't been training all this years in Charific Valley for nothing.

"Too predictable..." Red said calmed, waiting for the attack. "...Counter it."

"Saur!" The grass-type nodded to its trainer, as vines came out of its body.

What happened next was completely unexpected. As the attack almost reached its destination, Venusaur smashed the ground really hard, making it crack, as rocks from it went flying due to the impact. However, their course wasn't random. Everyone except Red was surprised that the rocks were in fact making a shield for Venusaur.

"BOOOM!"

Charizard's Flamethrower reached the 'shield', creating a lot of smoke due to the explosion. After the smoke dissipated, Venusaur was revealed to be perfectly fine, with a grin on its face, like if it was mocking Charizard.

"_What? He countered it! That's not going to happen for a second time, though!_" Ash thought.

"Charizard, try another Flamethrower!"

"RAWRRR!" The Pokemon obeyed once again, unleashing the fire move directly to the Grass-type.

"...Counter it again." Red ordered calmly.

"Saur!"

The Pokemon raised its vines, but instead of hitting the ground, it started to move its vines in circles, faster and faster, like the propeller of an helicopter. Slowly, the fire move started to disappear due to the strong wind that was generated from the vines until it became nothing but ashes.

"What?! Venusaur was able to counter two Flamethrowers! How is that even possible?"

"It's useless. I've trained my Venusaur so it can counter ANY Fire-type attack..." Red replied with a smile. "I hope that Fire-type attacks aren't everything your Charizard has to give..."

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"An anti-fire counter with Grass-type moves?!" Max gasped.

"Without Fire-type attacks, Charizard will be in real trouble!" May also was shocked by Red's smart strategy.

"Pretty impressive. Not only because Red has nulled Charizard's primal attribute, but also that he has managed to do it with a Pokémon with great disadvange against him. He has blocked almost half of Ash's strategy." Gary remarked.

"That much? Well, since using Fire attacks against a Grass-type is common sense, you can be right." Dawn replied.

"Even though Venusaur is still weak against Charizard, it's Red's Venusaur we're talking about, so it won't be easy for Ash to win this battle."

**Returning to the battle...**

"_So Fire attacks won't work, huh? Well, in that case..._" This were Ash's thoughts before he came up with his next strategy. "Charizard, approach to Venusaur and use Dragonbreath!"

"RAWRRR!" Charizard obeyed and started to head where its opponent was with an amazing speed. Then it unleashed the Dragon-type move.

"Use Sludge Bomb..." Red ordered his Pokemon.

Venusaur nodded and from its back, a smelly and disgusting purple jelly came out, in an attempt to counter the Dragonbreath.

Both attacks collided, making lots of dust between the Pokemon. The impact was closer to Charizard, making it to got into the dust, losing trace of him. This was, however, like Ash wanted to be...

"NOW! Seismic Toss!"

"..."

"RAWRRR!"

Charizard, who was thought that was damged from the attack, emerged from the dust with some scratches, charging at full speed where Venusaur was. This took everyone by surprise.

Charizard arrived really fast, giving no time to react to the Grass-type, as it was picked up by the dragon-like Pokemon. Both then went to the sky, higher and higher, until Charizard reached its limit and started to fly in circles, like if it was rotating across the world, faster and faster to gain speed enough for making the crash really hard.

"Your Venusaur may block my attacks in ground combat, but the sky is Charizard's territory!" Ash pointed as he looked to the sky.

"Then let's use your own strength against you..." Red said smiling. "Wrap Charizard..."

"What?!"

Venusaur nodded and used its vines to cover Charizard almost completely, leaving only bare its head and tail. Due to the wrap, Charizard couldn't continue flying and started to fell to the floor really fast, thanks to the power it accumulated while preparing the Seismic Toss. Now both Pokémon were in risk of crashing directly into the floor.

"If you think that's going to make me back off, then you're wrong!" Ash claimed as he looked to his Pokémon. "Charizard, try to get more speed!"

"..."

"And two can play the same game! I'll also use your move to my advantage! Now, Charizard! Surround your body with your Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.

"RAWRRR!"

With a strong determination in its eyes, Charizard growled and obeyed its trainer's orders, starting to spin and unleashed the fire move, as both he and the Grass-type were engulfed by the flames. Both were decided to maintain their positions. None of them was planning on backing off.

"GO!/...!"

"BOOOOM!"

Both of them collided into the ground, creating a big crater on it and along with it a lot of dust.

"CHARIZARD!" Ash yelled, hoping that his Pokémon could hear him.

Suddenly, a huge roar was heard, as a shadowy figure emerged from the crater, revealed to be the dragon-like Pokémon, with scratches all over its body, but the resolve inside of him let him act like it was nothing. However, this was not the end...

"..." Red just looked at Charizard with a smile, like if everything was accorded to his plan.

"Charizard, good job! Now let's end...Charizard?" Ash was confused with the attitude of its partner. "Are you ok?"

"Rawrrr..."

Charizard was starting to yawn. His eyes started to close slowly, and he blinked many times, but his sleepiness was too much to handle, as he closed his eyes completely and fell backwards. The dragon-like Pokémon was now in a deep sleep.

"Charizard! What the...?"

"...Frenzy Plant."

Red's voice interrupted Ash's, but that was the least Ash had to worry about. The ground started to shake, as giant vines emerged from the earth, heading at fast speed were Charizard was. The vines grabbed the Fire-type's body, from the legs to the head, blocking completely all of its possible movements. Venusaur then emerged from the crater, facing the now asleep and tied Charizard.

"What just happened?" Ash asked really confused.

"Did you really think that I just wrap Venusaur to your Charizard so they could both crash?" Red asked rhetorically.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I ordered him to do that because I wanted him to be as near as possible from your Pokémon." Red said, explaining the situation to Ash. "You see, you know that Venusaur can release different types of scents from its back? Well, normally they would need to store some strength in a little period of time so they can release them naturally. However, by training him enough, Venusaur managed to surpass this flaw, and now releasing the scents from its back is as easy as breathing for him."

"I don't understand..."

"When you changed your strategy from range attacks to close ones and managed to get Charizard pick up Venusaur for Seismic Toss, he started to release the scent already. However, due to your Charizard's high speed, the scent was not reaching him, so I needed that Venusaur stayed as close as it could be. That's why I ordered to wrap your Pokémon with its vines. Charizard inhaled this scent before crashing into the ground. If you hadn't make him use Flamethrower, maybe he wouldn't even managed to get out of the crater." Red said while pointing at the sleeping Pokémon. "As you can see, the scent was Sleep Powder..."

"No way..."

"If you attacked from range, Venusaur would just block it. If you attacked near from him, he would just release Sleep Powder or another status problem powder. A flawless strategy. " Red said, while grabbing his cap.

"..." Ash was speechless, seeing that Red had everything planned right from the beginning of the battle.

"This is over. Venusaur, finish hm with Frenzy Plant..."

"Saur!"

The Grass-type nodded and proceded what was going to be a total defeat. The first vine appeared from the ground, hitting directly into Charizard's chest. The impact was so hard and painful that he instantly woke up from its sleeping status and groaned in pain.

"Charizard, no!" Ash shouted, seeing his Pokemon in such a bad situation.

The second vine appeared and impacted in the Fire-type's chest again, making the Pokemon groan in pain again.

"RAWRRR!"

**Ash's POV**

Charizard!

*A third vine hit Charizard*

No...

*The next one hit*

Why...

*Hit*

Can't I do anything...

*Hit*

He's completely unable to move...

*Hit*

Am I forced to watch...

*Hit*

...and do nothing?

*Hit*

Is this...

*Hit*

...the end?

*Hit*

...No

*Hit*

"CHARIZARD!" I yelled to my Pokemon.

"Rawrrr..." It was my Charizard's reply.

"Charizard! I know that you can escape from those vines!" I tried to encourage him. "I know what you're capable of! We've been together ever since you were a little Charmander!"

*Hit*

"I know that we had many fights after you evolved into Charmeleon, and especially after you became Charizard, but we eventually surpassed that and ended up being good pals, right?"

*Hit*

"Thanks to you I have accomplished many victories. I wouldn't have defeated the Gym Leader Blaine if it wasn't for you. I wouldn't have defeated Gary at the Silver Conference. I wouldn't have defeated Noland of the Frontier Brains..."

*Hit*

"Come on, Charizard! I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

**Normal POV**

"Rawrrr...RAWRRRRRR!"

Suddenly, Charizard opened his eyes really wide. He was REALLY pissed off.

"...!" Even Red didn't see that coming.

"RAWRRRRRRR!"

Suddenly, Charizard started emanating an unbelievable powerful red aura, burning down the vines that were blocking him from moving. He then roared and took flight with an amazing speed, leaving a path of fire and ashes. Venusaur couldn't help but to feel a little afraid of his opponent's sudden power up.

"No way! Charizard...?"

"RAWRRRRRR!"

The dragon-like Pokémon started to release Flamethrowers into different directions in the sky. For a moment the spectators saw an orange sky, since Charizard's flames were everywhere. He was clearly showing his new power to the Grass-type.

"RAWRRRRRR!"

When he stopped his rampage, a better image of him could be seen. He was surrounded by flames, all across his body. His eyes turned crimson red in contrast of his normal blue eyes. His tail was now releasing a massive amount of flames, which were getting even bigger by the aura engulfing his body. The aura took form of what it seemed the form of a blazing dragon.

"Charizard! How...?"

"Blaze." Red claimed, while seeing the new power of his opponent surprised.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"Charizard activated Blaze? No way!" Max said shocked, but relieved that this power up helped Charizard escape from Venusaur's wrath.

"But that looks more like an inferno!" May said shocked.

"This is the first time Ash's Charizard has activated his ability!" Misty said.

"Fascinating, even though I'm not surprised that it happened, but how it has taken appearance!" Prof. Oak said.

"What do you mean gramps?" Gary asked.

"Every single Pokémon is different from each other, even the ones that belong to the same species. The activation of abilities depends on the Pokémon itself, so each one has a way in how activate it and how it materializes in the field. For example, May's Blaziken activated Blaze during her battle with Ash's Sceptile, right? However, at that time her Blaze activated more like a calm aura giving her a power boost. In other scenario, Ash's Infernape has also activated Blaze, but in a more violent way, just like Charizard is now. However, Charizard's Blaze is far more violent and destructive, as you can see. Just by seeing his new appearance it seems that his ability level is far stronger than anything I've seen before..." Prof. Oak said.

**Returning to the battle...**

"..." Red snapped out from looking at the mighty dragon-like Pokémon. "Venusaur, retire..."

"Saur!" The Pokémon obeyed, and by using his vines, he jumped to his trainer's side of the field, waiting for his next order.

"Wow...Charizard you did it!" Ash said cheerfully as he saw the power of his Pokémon.

"RAWRRRRR!" The Pokémon roared harder and looked at his trainer.

Suddenly, Charizard's body started to shine in a deep red, as his tail reached its peak point, and Charizard started charging a massive amount of energy in his mouth.

"What is that?" Ash asked, but his thoughts were interrupted since he heard a beep from his bag. He pulled out a tiny device he recognized as the Pokédex.

"ANALYZING. ANALYZING." The robotic voice of the high-tech encyclopedia said. "THE DATA HAS BEEN FOUND. CHARIZARD'S ATTACK HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS BLAST BURN."

"Blast Burn?!" Ash exclaimed, not believing what his Pokédex just told him. "He just learned that move?!"

"RAWRRRRR!" Charizard roared even more, as his attack was almost charged, ready to be unleashed.

"Watch out...Venusaur..." Red said in a lower voice to his Pokémon.

"Well, let's not waste this!" Ash said as he pointed at the Grass-type opponent. "Charizard, BLAST BURN!"

"RAWRRRRRRRRR!"

"Counter it!" This was the first time all of them saw Red worried about something.

Charizard, with burning eyes and with one of the most deadly glares one could ever see, unleashed his Blast Burn directly at the Grass-type. The attack was so destructive that everything that was hit or was near the attack was instantly burn into ashes. In the other side of the field, Venusaur obeyed his trainer's orders, and instead of his traditional counter, he instead used Frenzy Plant once again, covering him with a mass amount of big vines.

"GO, CHARIZARD!"

"...!"

The attack finally collided, and for everyone's surprise, the attack easily burned down every single Frenzy Plant covering Venusaur. The attack continued its course, crashing with the Grass-type, creating a big explosion, making it impossible to see the results.

"Venusaur!" Red seemed somewhat concerned about his Pokémon's status.

The dust dissipated, revealing an unconscious Venusaur, with burns all across his body and with swirls on its eyes, meaning the battle was over for him. After that, everything went silent, as everyone was too shocked about the massive power of the Blast Burn. Red just grabbed his cap and returned his Pokémon to his Pokéball.

"Ve-Venusaur c-cannot continue battling. The victory is for Charizard!" Brock stuttered a little as he declared the winner, but then a big smile invaded his face, knowing that his best friend got the first victory against a Champion's Pokémon.

"No way...Charizard, we did it!" Ash was extremely happy as he cheered to his Pokémon.

"RAWRRRRR!" The Pokémon returned to the ground, still surrounded by the powerful flames.

"Good job, Venusaur..." Red said smiling, while returning his Pokéball to his bag. "That was a good battle, other me."

"Thanks, Red. But thank Charizard, he was the one who gain strength enough to unleash Blaze AND doing that Blast Burn."

"That could be true, but I think that he couldn't have done it if you hadn't given him the confidence to unleash his potential. Your sync with your Pokémon is great. As expected of my counterpart..." Red replied.

"Well, we should continue this, right? Charizard, ready for round two...? Charizard?" Ash asked as he saw his Pokémon.

"RAWRRR..." The Pokémon started to falling back, as the flames on his body started disappearing.

"Charizard!" Ash ran where his Pokémon was, and helped him to not fall, but he backed off as he felt a great heat coming from him. "Ack! It burns!"

"Rawrrr..." Even though Charizard didn't faint, he was extremely tired. Everyone could see that.

"Charizard, you're in no conditions for continuing for now. Take a rest, since I'll need you in better fit for later." Ash said as he grabbed his Pokéball and returned Charizard to it, allowing him to rest for a while.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"What just happened?" Dawn asked, concerned about Charizard.

"It was obviously his last power up..." Gary replied.

"You mean unleashing Blaze and Blast Burn?" Max asked.

"Yes. Seeing how these events have developed, it's only natural that Charizard is tired and exhausted, especially after those Frenzy Plants were attacking him with such brute force that it's a miracle that he managed to stay conscious after that. However, activating Blaze requires a Pokémon to be at a dangerous situation, where he is heavily damaged. After that, Charizard not only managed to move freely and with such speed even with his wounds, but also he took the pressure of using Blast Burn, not only the most powerful Fire-type move, but also it was the first time he used it. Obviously Charizard cannot control Blaze or Blast Burn yet." Gary said.

**Returning to Ash and Red...**

"A two-edged sword..." Red said to his counterpart. "So he can't control them yet..."

"Charizard gave his all at the battle, but right now I can't allow him to continue. It would be foolish from me to do it..." Ash replied.

"Hpmh. I don't expect less from you..." Red said as he grabbed another Pokéball and throwing it. "Blastoise..."

The Pokéball opened, revealing the final evolution of Squirtle. He released his back cannons and couldn't help but doing a Hydro Pump to the sky, showing his power to the others, ready to meet his opponent.

"So, should we continue?"

"Of course!" Ash replied as he looked to one of his Pokémon, a green lizard Pokémon to be precise. "Sceptile, want to take him on?"

"Sceptile!" The Pokémon nodded, as he approached to the battle field, facing the starter Pokémon while grabbing his trademark stick.

"Very well. The next battle will be between Red's Blastoise and Ash's Sceptile." Brock continued to be the judge of the battle. "BEGIN!"

"Ok, Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade!"

"Sceptile!" With an unbelievable speed, Sceptile ran towards Blastoise, as his leafs in his arms formed a shining green blade.

"..." Red stayed in silence as he looked with his Pokémon with a smile. "_This is just beginning, other me..._"

**In the next chapter...**

**Red: Blastoise, show him your power...**

**Ash: Look out, Sceptile! Pull back!**

**May: This will be troublesome for both Pokémon. Be careful, Sceptile...the one who represents both me and Max's bonds with Ash...**

**Ash: Sceptile! Finish this!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 8: Falling**

**Ash: Sceptile, NO!**

**Red: Impressive, but not enough...**

**So, that was Chapter 7. You liked it? I hope so XD I'm really happy in how it developed. Well, remember to review it when you're finished. Things are starting to get really intense! See you in the next chapter, my dear readers!**


	8. Falling

**Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU ready for the next chapter of The Parallel Challenger! Sorry for the late update, but I've been really busy at college. Fortunately, I finally had my final exams (at least the IMPORTANT ones XD), so maybe I'll have more free time to post the chapters more frequently. I think. I hope XD**

**Anyway, like the last chapter I would like to thank everyone that is following the story and like how it is going. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter. I'll keep up the good work for you, my dear readers. Well, with no more interruptions, here's the new chapter!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 8: Falling**

"Ok, Sceptile! Use Leaf Blade!"

"Sceptile!" With an unbelievable speed, Sceptile ran towards Blastoise, as his leafs in his arms formed two shining green blades.

"..." Red stayed in silence as he looked with his Pokémon with a smile. "_This is just beginning, other me..._"

Sceptile reached the point where Blastoise was really fast, who just stayed in his position. The lizard Pokémon then took this opportunity and gave the Water-type a big slash directly on its chest.

"Yes! Direct hit!" Ash said as he looked at his Pokémon. "Continue attacking!"

"Sceptile!"

The lizard nodded and, with a strong determination, continued slashing his opponent with his grass-type attack. Hit after hit, Blastoise received the constant attack from the green lizard standing still. Everyone could see that luck was apparently on Ash's side.

However, after a few attacks, something started bothering Ash: how Red reacted. And why was that? Because THAT was missing. There was absolutely **NO** reaction from the Kanto Champion.

"Red..." The aspiring Pokémon Master wondered why Red had been quiet from the beginning from the battle while looking at him.

"..." The silent Red just looked back at his counterpart. A smile invaded the trainer's face.

"_Could it be...? No way!_" Ash realized his mistake and quickly gave his Pokémon his next order. "Sceptile, back off!"

"Scep!"

As Sceptile returned to his trainer's side, everyone saw that the marks that were done by Sceptile in Blastoise's chest were barely visible. Just miserable scratches. The Water-type grinned at the green lizard, who replied with a piercing glare.

"What the...?"

"Hmph. Such attacks won't work on Blastoise." Red replied with a calmed voice. "Flash Cannon..."

"Blastoise!"

With an incredible speed, Blastoise pointed at Sceptile and shot two energy spheres that eventually became one and headed right to where Ash's Pokémon was.

"Sceptile, dodge!" Ash ordered.

Sceptile nodded, and with also an amazing speed, he dodged the attack. However, it was barely dodged. A few inches and its left arm would have received the whole shot.

"So fast!" Ash was surprised by the speed of his opponent.

"Blastoise!" The Water-type cursed the lizard's speed, but realized that it was a lucky shot that he evaded the attack.

"That was close. Sceptile, use Agility and charge at Blastoise!"

"Sceptile!"

The Pokémon obeyed and, in a blink of an eye, charged at full speed at the turtle Pokémon. Blastoise prepared for the impact, and by using his own body, he charged at the lizard. Unfortunately for him, Ash had his own plan. With an amazing ability, Sceptile surrounded Blastoise without any effort and was now looking at his back and preparing to attack. He jumped and prepared to attack from the air.

"Now! Leaf Storm!"

The lizard nodded, and a tornado of leaves were formed from Sceptile's back and hit directly at the turtle's face and body. An attack with that distance was intended to make it more powerful and devastating. The turtle Pokémon groaned in pain as he backed down, showing that the attack took him by surprise.

"Hpmh..."

A smile could be seen in Red's face. That could only mean that everything was meaningless. The turtle, who apparently had been affected by the lizard's attack, returned to his battle position with a big grin on his face, pointing his back cannons right at him, who was still on the air.

"Hydro Cannon..."

Two giant water spheres formed at Blastoise's cannons and shot the massive attack directly at the lizard. Sceptile was too close to evade the attack, so he crossed his arms in a defensive pose and received the whole shot, trying to handle it with all his might. Unfortunately, the attack was way more powerful than he thought, and he was sent flying to the forest near the lab, colliding with lots of trees.

"Sceptile!" The Pokémon yelled in pain as he tried to recover from the hit.

"Sceptile are you ok?" Ash was worried about his Pokémon's condition.

"Scep...tile" With all the pride he had, Sceptile nodded, but his face showed otherwise.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"That Blastoise sure has a hard defense! He managed to receive Sceptile's attack like if it was nothing!" Max noticed.

"And he's not an average Blastoise. My own Blastoise also has Hydro Cannon, the most powerful water type attack, but that Hydro Cannon was far more powerful than anything I have seen before." Gary remarked. "It seems like each of Red's Pokémon had managed to achieve the highest stats of their power."

"You're right, Gary. But there is one more thing that must be noticed." Prof. Oak nodded to himself as he looked at the powerful water-type. "All of Red's Kanto starters have a unique skill in battle."

"What do you mean, professor?" Everyone wondered what the well-known researcher meant.

"Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise. Each Pokémon has showed to have a powerful skill. Charizard and his powerful fire-type attacks, Venusaur and his amazing abilities to counter moves, and now Blastoise with a defense that can handle even super-effective moves. If it's that way, it could be that every Pokémon in Red's team has a unique ability..."

**Returning to the battle...**

"_Crap. Red's Blastoise is sure giving me a hard time. How I will handle something that resists almost every attack I launch at him?_"

"Flash Cannon..."

"Sceptile, dodge it!"

Without hesitating, Red ordered to his Pokémon to continue his attack at the lizard. Sceptile, still affected by the attack, managed to get up and used the tree behind him to get speed and dodge the attack.

"Impressive. A Pokémon would normally take more time to recover after such attack." Red noticed. "Your Pokémon has a big resolve."

"_If things keep up like this, Sceptile won't make it..._" Ash thought as he tried to look for a new strategy. "_But how are we able to make damage if Blastoise doesn't feel it?"_

"Sceptile!" Ash's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his Pokémon, who was smiling, showing that the battle was far from over for him. "Sceptile!" The Pokémon tried to catch his trainer's attention.

"What is it?" Ash asked as he saw his Pokémon's head pointing at a specific direction. The trainer looked there and saw the opportunity he had been searching. The key for his victory.

**The forest.**

"Ok! It's time to _speed _things up a bit, Red!" Ash said with a smile in his face. "Sceptile, to the forest!"

"Sceptile!" The Pokémon nodded, glad that his trainer understood his hint, as he ran to the woods, with Ash following him behind.

"Hpmh. Change of battlefield, huh?" Red grinned as he hopped to his Pokémon's back. "Use Hydro Pump..."

The Pokémon nodded and rapidly hided his legs, arms and head inside his massive shell. This was followed by the powerful water-type move that came out of his cannons. The force of the attack was similar to a jet, making the Pokémon a flying transporter. The Kanto Champion pointed at the forest, and a second later, his Pokémon obeyed and started following his opponent's track.

Now both contenders had disappeared within the deeps of the woods, leaving the audience behind.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Brock sighed. As the referee, he had to check how the battle went, but it was too late for him to follow them.

"What just happened?" Dawn asked with a confused look.

"Heh. It's seems that Ash has finally took things under his control." The young Oak researcher smiled, replying to Dawn's answer.

"A clever idea indeed. Ash has remembered that Sceptile's true environment resides in the woods. Sceptile can move freely and even faster when he's there, meanwhile Blastoise will suffocate due to the number of trees within the forest. Blastoise's will have trouble at attacking correctly, and Ash's going to use that advantage to overcome the situation." Prof. Oak analyzed. "However, Blastoise's defense worries me. Ash will need to use the environment to its fullest if he truly wants to win this battle."

"This will be troublesome for both Pokémon." May said, looking at the forest while holding her hand tightly near her chest. "Be careful, Sceptile...the one who represents both me and Max's bonds with Ash..."

**In the forest...**

The woods were his opponent's territory, so he had to be extremely careful when looking for them. These were the thoughts that invaded the Kanto Champion as he adventured within the deeps of the forest, on top of his Blastoise, searching for his counterpart. He looked in every corner he managed to see with his sight. It wasn't difficult for him, though. After training in a place such as Mt. Silver's top, seeing within the woods was as easy as taking on a Gym Leader. At least for him.

*bush*

"Blastoise, stop right here..." Red said to his Pokémon as he jumped from his back and landed on a rock.

The Pokémon obeyed and stopped his water-type attack, releasing his arms, legs and head as he looked to his trainer, waiting for the order.

The trainer detected a sound within the woods, and the sound was getting louder and louder within the seconds, meaning that it was getting near.

*bush*

"..." The silent trainer looked at a certain point as he rested his back on a tree while still standing.

*bush, bush*

Red raised his hand, ready to order his Pokémon to attack. By now, the sound was really close to them.

*bush, bush, bush*

"Hydro Pump..." Red finally ordered his Pokémon to attack, pointing at the _opposite_ direction of the sound.

The Pokémon didn't hesitate to obey his trainer's orders, and with his cannons unleashed the water-type attack, hitting at the exact point his trainer wanted him to attack. The curious thing about it was that at the precise moment Blastoise attacked, an even louder noise was heard from the point Red directed the attack. A silhouette could be seen escaping from the point the Hydro Pump collided.

"Nice try." Red said while grabbing the brim of his cap. "But it will take more than that to deceive me, other me."

"I had to try." A voice was heard from behind the tree Red was resting. Ash approached from behind and looked at Red. "But don't think that will be all."

"Hpmh..." Red smiled at his counterpart as he walked away from him and waited for the next move.

For a minute, everything went silent. Both trainers were waiting the perfect opportunity to make his move. Just wait for it...

"Flash Cannon..."

"Sceptile, use Quick Attack!"

Both Pokémon obeyed. Blastoise fired his attack, clashing to some trees nearby. However, due to the lizard's speed, he missed. Ash's Pokémon appeared behind his opponent and crashed his body against the Water-type. Blastoise, being taken by surprise, collapsed to the floor as he saw Sceptile returned to the trees and hide within them.

"Ok, now use Agility!"

Blastoise got up as he saw that the leaves within the trees were moving due to Sceptile's movement.

"Hydro Pump..."

The Water-type continued to attack the Pokémon, without getting any lucky shot. Now Sceptile was too fast for him to match his speed.

"Leaf Blade!"

Sceptile suddenly appeared next to Blastoise and slashed him. Due to the speed the lizard managed to pull out, the water-type couldn't help but back off and showing in his face that he actually felt pain by the attack. Sceptile grinned and returned to the woods once more, hiding within them.

"Yeah! Now that Sceptile is too fast for your Blastoise, we have the upper-hand!" Ash said as he looked to every single corner of the environment. "This is Sceptile's place. He gains more speed as long as he feels this sensation that only the forest can give him..."

"Hpmh..." Red grinned as he looked at Ash. "Very well, then. Let's change the battlefield again then. Blizzard..."

The turtle grinned, and from his mouth and both his cannons, a snowy storm came, covering the entire zone. With no problem, the battle field started to change its tone of colors. Now the green trees had become pure ice, the leaves became fragile crystals that fell to the now snowy floor from any single movement. Eventually, Sceptile's hideout was revealed.

"No way!"

"Now that he has nowhere to hide... Flash Cannon."

Blastoise stopped unleashing Blizzard and pointed at the lizard. Sceptile tried to move, but he was attached to the branches of the tree by ice. The attack was unleashed and hit directly at the lizard, which went flying due to the explosive attack. He collided with some trees before finally getting on his feet.

"Sceptile, are you ok?"

"Scep..."

"Now that everything's frozen, he cannot move like he did before. He may still have the trees, but they're now all frozen and slippery. It will be difficult for him to move as fast as before."

"..." Ash just looked down, his eyes weren't visible. Suddenly he smiled and raised his head.

"...?" Red was confused by his reaction.

"If that's the case, then I'll have to do _that_ even earlier than I thought..."

Sceptile then appeared and nodded to its trainer. The Pokémon then began to jump within the trees, surrounding Blastoise.

"Sceptile, use Agility!"

"Hydro Pump..."

Blastoise continued his attack on the grass-type. The lizard increased his speed once more, managing to overcome the difficult situation he was into.

"Use Agility once more!"

The pressure in the air was starting to be felt.

"Agility again!"

The air was starting to form a tornado surrounding Blastoise.

"One more time! Agility and then Leaf Storm!"

Sceptile activated Agility one more time and, at the same time, leaves appeared from his back to unleash the grass attack. However, due to the great draft he created from his constant movement, the leaves started rotating as well, surrounding Blastoise. Also, all the ice and little crystal shards that were attached to the trees started also were affected by the draft and detached from the trees, following their path with the leaves. Now it looked like a big tornado of leaves and ice.

And Blastoise was in the middle of it.

"..." Red was looking everything calmed, but was taken by surprise due Ash's confusing strategy.

"Let me show you my new combo! **Leaf Blade Storm: Infinity**!"

Sceptile finally stopped running, and appeared from one of the corners, and with his Leaf Blades activated, he slashed Blastoise. He was so fast that he was barely visible. Just a green blur passing by.

The curious thing about it was that when Sceptile charged at Blastoise, parts of the ice shards and the Leaf Storm followed him, also colliding with the Water-type, making the attack even more devastating.

"GOOOOO!"

Sceptile continued his attack, jumping from the tree he landed and slashed Blastoise again, with the ice shards and the leaves also hitting. The attack was so fast that Blastoise didn't have time to react and received the attacks with a painful reaction. Then it was repeated, jumping from tree to tree, one slash per second was collided with Blastoise.

Slash, slash, slash, slash. The water type was slashed 10 times.

20 times.

30 times.

They even lost the count.

"...!" Red looked how his Pokémon was overpowered by the lizard's speed.

Sceptile appeared one last time under the turtle, making himself visible and, with all his might, slashed him once again, making him fly off the scene, heading to where Prof. Oak's lab was.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"It's been quite a while. I'm wondering how they're doing..." Max said as he grabbed his glasses, worrying about the battle.

"Well, let's just hope that everything is going fine for Ash." May replied to her brother, confident that her crush would manage to pull out a good strategy to beat Blastoise.

And she was _so _right...

"Hey, what's that?" The voice of Brock was heard by the audience. "It seems that something's coming from the woods!"

"Who is it? Can you tell?" Dawn asked the Pokémon Doctor in training.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it's coming pretty fast!" Brock said as he looked terrified as he saw the 'thing' coming faster. "Look out, everyone!"

Everyone moved from their places, as they saw a big Pokémon coming out of the woods. However, as he passed through them, they recognized it as Red's Pokémon, who was sent flying from the woods by something. They noticed the Pokémon had cuts all over his shell and also in his arms, legs and head. The turtle continue his track until he crashed with a rock nearby. Finally in the land, Blastoise fell as swirls formed in his eyes. Game over for him.

"No...way..." Everyone was shocked to see Blastoise's status.

"Scep...tile!"

They heard a voice from the woods and, as they turned their heads, they saw the green lizard breathing heavily, with scratches all over his body, but they weren't as big as Blastoise's. Sceptile stood firmly, as he looked at the floor and picked a stick and bit it with his mouth as he grinned.

"Blastoise cannot continue battling! The victory is for Sceptile!" Brock, as the referee, announced the winner of the battle.

"He did it!" Dawn jumped with joy.

"Amazing! That Sceptile sure has guts!" Misty noticed.

"So Ash managed to pull out a big one, huh? Impressive." Gary grinned as he looked at Sceptile.

"Talking about Ash...where is he?" May asked.

"I'm right here!"

They saw within the woods and, behind Sceptile, Ash appeared, waving at his friends. He looked at them with a big smile in his face, and he had a good reason. He just defeated Red's Blastoise, and his second victory against a Champion's Pokémon. As he approached them they saw that his clothes were really damaged and torn up.

"Ash, what the hell did you do to be like this?" Misty asked, yelling at his former travelling companion.

"I did a really crazy trick at the forest. It was wild, but ended up well..." Ash said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Ash! That was amazing!" Max approached his role model. "What strategy did you do, huh? Leaf Blade plus Quick Attack? Leaf Storm from under him? Or maybe...?"

"Relax, Max!" Ash laughed at the kid's reaction. "Remember that the battle is not over yet!"

"Speaking of that...what happened to Red?"

"RAWRRRRRRR!"

A big roar was heard coming from the woods. They looked at the place as they saw a big Flamethrower released to the sky, coming from the exact place they heard the noise. After that, they saw a silhouette coming from the sky.

"It's Charizard!" Max recognized the Pokémon.

"RAWRRRRR!"

The Pokémon reached where they were, as they saw the Kanto Champion jumping from its back and landing without difficulties at the floor. And his face showed no emotion as usual. He grabbed his Pokéball and returned his Blastoise to it.

"You have impressed me once more." Red said as he looked at the Pokéball of his fainted Pokémon. "However, since you wanted to speed things up, so do I."

"RAWRRRRRRR!" The dragon-like Pokémon, who was still flying, unleashed another Flamethrower to the sky.

"Krooko! KROOKODILE!" The dark type roared. His new rival was on the battlefield.

"Sorry Krookodile, but I've made my decision. I'll choose-"

"Sceptile!"

The green lizard interrupted his trainer, positioning in front of him and took a battle stance.

"Sceptile! Is this really what you want?" Ash asked to his Pokémon.

"Scep...TILE!" The Pokémon nodded as he grinned back at his trainer.

"...Ok then." Ash smiled after seeing the determination of his Pokémon. "I'll not force you to leave. I'll continue with Sceptile!"

"And my Pokémon will be Charizard..." Red replied.

Everyone returned to their respective places...

"The next battle will be between Ash's Sceptile and Red's Charizard! Are both contenders ready?" Brock returned to his position as referee as he announced the next battle.

"Always!/..."

"Very well then. BEGIN!"

"Charizard, activate **it**."

"Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!"

The green lizard jumped with an unbelievable speed, surprising all the audience, since they didn't saw how Sceptile managed to get that fast. Sceptile reached Charizard really fast, and slashed his left wing. However...

"Impressive, but not enough...Flamethrower."

Charizard began to be engulfed by a powerful red aura that resembled flames, as fire formed in his mouth.

"SCEPTILE!" Ash yelled to his Pokémon.

Charizard unleashed his attack, hitting directly at the green lizard. The Pokémon was sent back to the ground and crashed with it, cracking the ground as he was still being attacked by Charizard's Flamethrower.

"Sceptile, no!"

Ash ran to see his Pokémon, and saw his Sceptile badly hurt, with burns all over his body and in great pain. Ash then looked at Brock, and he understood the situation perfectly.

"Sceptile cannot continue battling. The victory is for Charizard!" Brock announced.

"No way..." Max said.

"The battle just started... and he's out?" Misty was shocked.

"That power boost..." Gary looked at the dragon-like Pokémon.

Ash returned Sceptile to his Pokéball and handed it to Brock. He then returned to his side on the field and saw Red's Charizard releasing Flamethrowers in different directions. He then looked at Red, who was already looking at him directly.

"How. Tell me." Ash said.

"I told you that I would also speed things up." Red replied calm as always.

"How was your Charizard able to do a Flamethrower as equal of powerful as Blast Burn?" Ash wanted an answer from Red.

"..." Red grabbed the brim of his cap and looked with a piercing look back at Ash. "That is...because Charizard can control his inner ability..."

"His inner ability?" Ash was confused but then realized what he meant. "No...way. Can he...?"

"Yes." The Kanto Champion looked to his Pokémon. "My Charizard can activate Blaze at **any** time."

**In the next chapter...**

**Ash: He can activate Blaze….at will?!**

**Red: Something is bothering Charizard...**

**Ash: So the battle won't be as I expected.**

**May: Ash, don't panic! You still have a chance!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 9: Powerhouse**

**Ash: Go for all!**

**Red: Hpmh...**

**And that was it! Chapter 8 for you, my dear readers! I must day that I had a hard time thinking how this chapter would develop. I had lots of ideas and after I wrote some words, I deleted everything and started fresh. Also, due to college, I didn't have time to post earlier, but I'll try to post more frequently. Remember to read and review! See you in the next chapter!**


	9. Powerhouse

**Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of this great fic, The Parallel Challenger! Last time, we saw the amazing power of Sceptile, making him gain victory thanks to that badass combo! Now, things will turn HOT, since Red's going serious now, and has summoned his Charizard once again, and has revealed that he can control his inner ability, Blaze!**

**Anyway, thanks to ****Omegaxis1****, ****PokeMaster000****, ****HikariGaijin****, ****Peter Kim****, ****ChloboShoka****, ****REDxYELLOW****, ****Lightningblade49****, ****ampplaca1****, ****XxL. **** and ****Lord Kaizer****! And also to my dear readers as well! Reviews help authors to know how readers see the developing of the fic (and also give me a power boost to write faster XD). Besides, the end of humanity is this Friday, so a few reviews would cheer me up. Just kidding XD**

**Anyway, let's go to the fic!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 9: Powerhouse**

"My Charizard can activate Blaze at **any** time."

After these words were pronounced by the Kanto Champion from the other dimension, everything went silent.

These words were constantly hitting everyone's minds. What Charizard just did was scientifically impossible. There was absolutely no way a Pokémon would just broke the natural course of the Pokémon line. It was completely new information for everyone, even for Prof. Oak, who even though he dedicated most of his life into the research of Pokémon, what Red just spoke was...unbelievable...

"He can activate Blaze...at will?!" Ash gasped.

"That's absurd!" Max yelled in disbelief. "No one has ever done that before! Not even the Champions of the other regions!"

"Yet it happened..." This was the reply of the champion. Max couldn't reply back at him.

"This is...beyond everything I've seen..." The most shocked one of everyone, Prof. Oak, was trembling at the idea of a Pokémon with such ability.

"That shouldn't astonish you so much. You, of all people, should know how that a Pokémon's potential has NO limits, Professor."

"..." Prof. Oak gulped. The young trainer was right, but it was still a shocking revelation.

"RAWRRRRRR!"

The moment was interrupted by the roar of the dragon-like Pokémon, who unleashed a Flamethrower into the sky and glared at Ash, showing that he was growing impatient and wanted to fight his next Pokémon.

**Ash's POV**

Ok, Ash. Calm down, calm down...

"RAWRRRRRR!"

What should I do?

This power...

...Blaze. He's able to use it at will…

How I'm supposed to beat him?

"RAWRRRRRR!"

Damn it...this is serious...

I have four Pokémon left...

Infernape, Krookodile, Charizard and Pikachu.

Infernape won't do much damage, since he's also a Fire-type, and his Fight-type part won't help, either.

Krookodile...is too soon for him. After that amount of damage he received in the last fight... I wanted him to observe his strategy from the battle with Sceptile, but that didn't work out...

"RAWRRRRRR!"

Pikachu was going to be my choice for battling Charizard before Sceptile offered to continue battling...but now that I think about it...even if Pikachu managed to defeat him, he would be weak for another battle...especially if Red decides to use his own Pikachu...

Charizard is still recovering...there's no way he could win against him in this condition. I need more time...

I can't afford to lose any Pokémon. We both have four Pokémon left. One Pokémon could do the difference...

What should I do? I'm nervous...

...I'm scared. _Again_...

I can't let this feeling take over me... I can't let it to consume me...

... ...

**Normal POV**

"So..." Red, who was just looking at his counterpart's movement, said. "Which is your next Pokémon?"

"..." Ash glared at him. The pressure of the battle was hitting him.

"RAWRRRRRR!"

Charizard roared once again. However, this time, his face looked angry. Impatient from the waiting, one could say. Suddenly, he charged at where Ash was, surprising everyone. Ash, who was still in his thoughts, didn't have time to react, as he saw the dragon-like Pokémon heading at full speed to his position. Ash closed his eyes, expecting to receive whatever Charizard was going to unleash. He stayed like that for a few seconds, until he finally dared to open his eyes. Slowly, he saw the Fire-type's face so close to him that he felt backwards. The Pokémon leaned more to see his trainer's counterpart directly.

"Something is wrong with Charizard..." Red thought while looking at his Pokémon. "He has never done this before..."

Ash was wondering why his opponent's Pokémon was looking at him so closely. It was like he was checking him. Analyzing him. Ash looked at the Pokémon right in the eyes, like trying to see what he was thinking. The moment this happened, the Pokémon stayed still, and replied the look. For a minute, they were just looking at the other. They didn't say anything, but at the same time, they did. The eyes revealed everything. For a moment, Ash was communicating with Red's Pokémon...

"RAWRRRRRR!"

Charizard grinned as he roared to the sky, he then looked back at Ash, who looked at him with a confused look. The Pokémon took flight and returned to his side of the field. However, he landed and faced his trainer, the Kanto Champion.

"What is it?" The trainer asked to his Pokémon.

"Rawrrr..."

"..." Red looked somewhat confused. "Is that what you want?"

"Rawrrr!" The Pokémon nodded to him.

"..." Red looked at the Pokémon and smiled. "I understand..."

The young champion searched in his bag and took out a Pokéball. It was pretty obvious what he was going to do now.

"Return..."

He raised the Pokéball and a red energy engulfed the dragon-like Pokémon, as he slowly merged with the energy, returning to the capsule.

"What the...?"

"Charizard understood you." Red said while looking at Ash. "He understood both your resolve and your fear."

"What does that mean?"

"He knows that you fear him...his power. Even since you knew that he could unleash Blaze, all your confidence and hope dropped to the floor." Red looked at Charizard's Pokeball. "Therefore, he refuses to battle you in a weak state. Like me, he wants to battle your Pokémon at its greatest, but they cannot give their all, if their trainer is not..."

"Red..."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm acknowledging my Pokémon's wish. He's the one giving you the opportunity, so you better **use **it right." Red said while taking another Pokéball. "You want to gain time for Charizard so he can be ready for another battle, right? So let's do that..."

With that being said, Red's Pokéball opened, revealing the first Pokémon he used in the battle: Snorlax. Though he looked tired and with a rough appearance from his battle with Ash's Snorlax, he stood firmly and waited for the opponent's Pokémon.

"Snorlax will be my next Pokémon, then." Red said while grabbing the brim of his cap and pointing at Ash. "So, which Pokémon are you going to choose?"

"I don't know what to feel. Was he giving me an opportunity or was it just pity?" Ash thought as he looked at the floor, kind of sad. "No, I don't have time for that." He shook his head. "Charizard did it for a reason. Like Red said, it's an opportunity, so I need to use it!"

Ash then looked back at the group of his Pokémon.

"Infernape, you will take this one." Ash said with a warm smile.

"Infernape!" The Pokémon nodded as he jumped and landed on his side of the field, waiting for the start of the battle.

"Ok. This battle will be between Ash's Infernape and Red's Snorlax." Brock took his stand as the referee once again. "Are both contestants ready?"

"Yeah!/..."

"BEGIN!"

"Infernape, use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.

The Pokémon charged up a big amount of flames in his head, and then unleashed the attack, which was heading directly at Snorlax.

"Dodge and use Blizzard..."

Snorlax nodded and managed to dodge the attack. However, his face looked that it hurt moving like that after his previous battle. The Sleeping Pokémon then unleashed the ice-type move, freezing everything in his way.

"Counter with another Flamethrower!"

Infernape nodded and continued his attack, this time trying to stop the powerful attack coming from the enemy side. The Flamethrower clashed with the Blizzard, both being as powerful as the other one. After a minute, the attack finally stopped, making a big amount of fog that covered the entire battlefield, due to the snow from the Blizzard evaporating from the Flamethrower.

"Infernape! Are you ok?" Ash asked, since he couldn't see his Pokémon.

"Infernape!" It was his response.

"Body Slam..."

Red, who looked as calm as ever, ordered his Pokémon to attack at the ape Pokémon. A cry could be heard, as something came out the fog, who resulted to be Snorlax, who jumped to gain enough height to unleash his attack. When he reached a good height, he stopped and started to head down, going faster and faster.

"Infernape, dodge it!"

"Infernape?" The Pokémon couldn't see at all and what getting confused at his trainer's orders.

"Snorlax!"

The Pokémon reached his destination, colliding with the ground and making a big hole on it. Since the fog was still in the surroundings, it was impossible to see what actually happened to Infernape.

"Infernape!"

"..."

However, after a moment, the fog dissipated completely, revealing Snorlax sitting on top of Infernape. The ape Pokémon tried to free himself, but the Sleeping Pokémon was just too heavy for that plan to work.

"Infernape, use Dig! Now!"

The Pokémon managed to find an opening and, with great ability, managed to do a hole where he escaped from Snorlax's wrath. The normal-type powerhouse stood up and looked in his surroundings, trying to figure it out from where Infernape would appear.

"Now, Mach Punch!"

From under Snorlax, the ape Pokémon appeared at full speed and gave him a big uppercut right in the Pokémon's chin. Snorlax received the hole attack, as he was sent flying due to the power of the ape Pokémon.

"Follow him and use Flare Blitz!"

With a great speed, Infernape concentrated strength enough and jumped, going where the Sleeping Pokémon was sent due to his attack. He managed to pass him, and then started to be engulfed by a blue flame aura, as he collided with Snorlax, and started to head to the ground, both engulfed by the powerful blue aura.

"You can do it!"

Infernape roared as he took a boost in his attack, heading even faster to the ground. His head was colliding directly with Snorlax's belly. It was impossible for the normal-type to escape the attack. In his condition, he couldn't.

*CRASH*

Both Pokémon finally collided in the ground, adding the dimensions of the crater Snorlax already did in his attempt to defeat Infernape. The crash of the Pokémon created lots of dust that made it impossible for the contenders to check on their Pokémon's status.

"Infernape!" The ape Pokémon got out of the hole and jumped to his side of the field. Suddenly, he felt the recoil from the Flare Blitz. His face was in pain, but it eventually faded.

"Infernape, are you ok?" Ash asked to his Pokémon. The Pokémon grinned and nodded to his trainer.

"Snor...lax..."

Everyone could see that the Sleeping Pokémon headed outside from the crater with burns all across his body, along with all type of scratches. He returned to his side of the field, breathing heavily and barely standing. One could see that he wasn't going to last anymore.

"Ok, Infernape. This our last shot! Use Mach Punch!"

"INFERNAPE!"

The Pokémon charged at full speed where Snorlax was. The Sleeping Pokémon stood there, without moving a muscle. Even if he did, his body was way too damaged to actually counter the move. There were only seconds before the attack collided with the Pokémon.

"Let me show you the true nature of my Snorlax..." Red declared as he looked at his Pokémon. "Do it..."

Infernape reached his opponent and hit him. But something extremely weird happened. At the precise moment the punch made his impact, it was instantly repelled and Infernape flew to his side of the field, crashing with the floor. It was like he was the one who was attacked.

"Infernape!" Ash was concerned of his Pokémon's wellbeing.

After that, everyone saw as Snorlax started to be engulfed by a warm green aura, surrounding his whole body. The shocking part was that, second by second, Snorlax's scratches and burns started to disappear into nothing. After a minute, the warm aura dissipated, and Snorlax was fully healed.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"He just healed himself? But that's not possible! Snorlax can't learn any healing attacks!" Max remarked.

"Wait...there is one attack..." Gary noticed. "But it doesn't make sense..."

"What is it?"

"Think about it. What is what a Snorlax do best?"

"Easy, sleeping. For something he is the 'Sleeping Pokémon'." Misty said. "Wait...did he just...?"

"Yeah, he did that...the only move that can actually ruin all your effort of damaging the other Pokémon..."

**Returning to the battle...**

"_Rest._" Ash muttered.

Snorlax smiled proudly as he took his battle position, and used his hands to call Infernape for another round, provoking him. The fire ape was starting to get pissed off.

"But how is that even possible? Your Snorlax didn't even snore!"

"That's because he didn't fall asleep..." Red replied.

"What?!"

"You could say that what just happened is my Snorlax's ability." Red started to explain. "Snorlax is one unique Pokémon. Due to his immense dimensions, his strength makes him a unique powerhouse in every team. However, he has weak points, like every Pokémon in existence, and his own one is his sleepiness. It's in his own nature to sleep frequently. Besides that, his speed isn't in the best shape, making him unable to dodge fast attacks. That's why I needed him to get over those weak points and excel in his abilities..."

"By making him stay in better fit, slowly his inner active and battler personality starting to get out more frequently. Eventually, when using Rest, his time asleep started to be shorter, and now he can wake up just after three seconds asleep."

"So you managed to overcome the flaw..." Ash cursed this ability. "But why did Infernape fly backwards like if receiving his own attack when he collided with Snorlax?"

"Damage is useless while Rest is active. However, if used correctly, the 'barrier' surrounding Snorlax can become like a 'Mirror Coat-like' move. To be precise, it would be like hitting yourself."

"_That will be a really annoying problem..._"

"Ok, this is taking too long. Let's continue." Red pointed out. "Blizzard..."

"Infernape, dodge and use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.

Infernape dodged the ice-type move, as he unleashed his own move, hitting the Sleeping Pokémon right in the belly. However, it was clear that it wasn't as effective as the last time.

"Body Slam..."

"Receive it with Mach Punch!"

Snorlax jumped even more than at the start of the round. Like the last one, he reached enough height and started falling back to the ground. In his side, a light engulfed the ape's hand, as he took position, ready to meet the Sleeping Pokémon with his attack.

"Hpmh. Giga Impact..."

"Infernape, NOW!"

The added attack took Infernape by surprise, as he desperately used all his might to counter the Giga Impact. Both attacks collided, and were forcefully retaining their own power. The fire ape accumulated the pressure in his arm to gain a power boost, while Snorlax also put some pressure in the Giga Impact so he would overpower Infernape.

"Infernape, you won't overpower his Giga Impact! Deflect it to another course!"

The ape nodded and with his arm almost at its limit, he managed Snorlax to overpower his own attack. However, he used his Mach Punch right next to him so he would crash in another direction. Fortunately, the fire-type managed to evade the whole hit by a few inches, as Snorlax crashed to a near site. Infernape breathed heavily, as he saw his opponent doing the same thing. Both were really tired after that clash.

"Infernape, use Flare Blitz!"

The Pokémon, engulfed in blue flames, roared as he charged at full speed where his opponent was. His face was looking really angry, meaning that his sanity was slowly being broken...

"It's useless. Rest..."

Red ordered his Pokéon to do the cursed attack. The Pokémon obeyed and was instantly surrounded by the warm green aura. Infernape, who already saw that technique, roared even harder as he collided with Snorlax's body. However, it was useless. Snorlax's 'barrier' reflected the attack, making Infernape to fly backwards and colliding once again with the hard floor. Due to the immense pain he just received and after receiving the recoil of the Fire-type attack, he stayed on the ground, with his face showing only pain.

"Snorlax can keep it this up for many rounds." Red remarked as his Pokémon was fully recovered after the cursed move. "However, your Infernape can't even stand up due to the immense damage he provoked to himself."

"Infernape..." Ash started sweating.

"Anyway, let's finish this. Snorlax, Giga Impact..."

The Pokémon was engulfed by the purple energy, and charged at the fire ape, who was still lying in the floor and, even if he tried, he didn't manage to get up. There was apparently no more hope for Ash's Pokémon.

"_Damn it...how I'm going to defeat him if he keeps healing himself?_"

**In the next chapter:**

**Ash: Infernape, NO!**

**Red: Hmmm? What's this?**

**Ash: What the...? Infernape, STOP IT!**

**May: His anger has consumed him…**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 10: Clear Mind**

**Ash: What have you done?**

**Red: Instability of power can slowly turn into...**_**madness**_**...**

**So, that was Chapter 9 for you, my dear readers! Ufff! I need to catch a break. I have to tell you that this was a hard chapter to make, so I hope you liked it. Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that you get to be with your loved ones (I know there's still some days until it, but I don't know if I will post the new chapter between those days.) Anyway, remember to review. It will cheer me up to know your opinions about the fic. See you in the next chapter, my dear readers! Hollow, out!**


	10. Clear Mind

**Hi, FanFiction Members! This is HollowKU bringing the new chapter of The Parallel Challenger! I am really, REALLY happy right now. You know why? Because my story reached the 100 reviews! I'm really excited! This is the first time I got this much reviews in one of my stories. I really thank you for this achievement! I couldn't have done it without you, my dear readers! But I want to give special thanks to ****Angel Kaijeno****, or as I call him, Kai. He was the one who got the 100****th**** review, so I would like to thank him by dedicating this chapter to him in specific, but this is also for all of you who have been reading this fic and have managed to make me achieve this.**

**Anyway, thanks to ****Silver Demon Sword****, ****Lightningblade49****, ****Omegaxis1****, ****Pokeguy84****, ****HikariGaijin****, ****Imperishable Soul****, ****Starlighz****, ****A Natsume Yuujinchou Lover****, ****Lord Kaizer****, ****Trainer Theta****, ****ChloboShoka****, ****PokeMaster000****, ****REDxYELLOW****, ****aggronlover****, ****Peter Kim, beastmode953, Golfer2012, JJWalker, XSubaruRockmanX**** and ****2 Guests****. Thanks for all your support as always =)**

**Well, with no more interruptions, let's go to the fic!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 10: Clear Mind**

"_Damn it...how are we going to beat him if he keeps healing himself?_"

Ash couldn't help but watch as his Pokémon was about to receive the powerful blow from his counterpart's Pokémon. Infernape tried to get up, but it seemed that he took a lot of damage from the battle so far.

"Snorlax...finish this already..."

Red watched his Pokémon heading with an amazing speed where the fire ape was. If the Giga Impact landed, it would be all for Ash's Pokémon. But after all that damage, including the annoying Rest ability, there wasn't so much hope for Infernape.

"INFERNAPE!"

Snorlax collided with the ground, making lots of dust to cover the battlefield. Ash cursed his luck by looking in a different direction, while Red just grabbed the brim of his cap and was ready to return his Pokémon back to his Pokéball to continue with the next battle. There was no point in continuing.

"Snorlax?!"

"INFERNAPE!"

Suddenly and surprising everyone, the dust dissipated revealing a pumped-up Infernape grabbing Snorlax while breathing heavily. It was an unbelievable view. Infernape had taken the whole attack and resisted it with his bare hands.

"Infernape! Thank Arceus you're alright!"

"Infer...ape!"

"_So...he still had a lot of power hidden within him..._" Red couldn't help but smile. "_As expected of the other me..._"

"INFERNAPE!"

The fire ape, with all his might, threw Snorlax to the floor really hard, as he returned to his side of the field with a really enraged face. Snorlax got annoyed as well by the persistence of his opponent.

"Infernape! We have to finish this quickly before it gets worse!" Ash was somewhat nervous, but he trusted in his Pokémon's strength.

"INFER...NAPE!"

Infernape started emanating a big red aura that went directly to his flaming head. It grew bigger and bigger, as everyone saw in disbelief that the Pokémon's temper had reached his limits. The fire ape roared, as he hit the floor with a mighty Mach Punch, cracking the floor in the process while seeing the Sleeping Pokémon with a deadly glare.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"Yeah!" Dawn raised her fist in joy. "Just when he needed it, Infernape activated Blaze!"

"It seems that Infernape is in the same kind of situation when he fought Paul's Electrivire in the Sinnoh League a year ago." Brock remarked.

"Maybe now Ash has the opportunity to destroy Snorlax's defensive tricks!" Max said.

While the group was seeing that luck was now in Ash's side, two researchers were still looking at the battlefield, with a serious look, analyzing the fire ape.

"Gramps, I may be not expert, but I feel there is something wrong with Infernape." Gary whispered to not worry the others, "The look in his eyes...it just...doesn't feel right..."

"I noticed it too, Gary..." Prof. Oak replied with a low tone. "However, it is too soon to jump into conclusions. Right now we can only look and hope it's nothing serious..."

Even though she was also celebrating the sudden power-up, May noticed the worried faces of both researchers. She decided to let it pass, however. After all, what would be possibly wrong in the battle so far?

**Returning to the battle...**

"So, another Blaze, huh?" The young Champion said while looking at his opponent. "Don't think that move will work as effective as the last one..."

"Let's see about that!" Now luck was on Ash's side. "Infernape, ready for round two?"

"INFERNAPE!" The Pokémon roared as he suddenly charged on his opponent.

"Huh? Infernape, what are you doing?!"

The Pokémon didn't listen to his trainer, as he collided with the Sleeping Pokémon with a powerful Mach Punch. The champion's Pokémon didn't have time to react, taking him by surprise, so he received the whole shot as he flew backwards, and finally falling into the dirty ground. The Sleeping Pokémon groaned in pain as he got up with one of his big hands covering the spot he was recently hit. It seemed that the fist was even more devastating than the last one.

"U-umm...nice shot, Infernape!" Ash was confused why his Pokémon attacked without his order, but he was glad that the damage was actually effective this time.

"Snorlax...use Blizzard." Red sounded somewhat worried.

"Flamethrower!"

Both attacks clashed, but the heat of the Flamethrower that Infernape released was way more powerful than the Ice-type attack. The Blizzard melted as the Flamethrower make his way through the attack and hit Snorlax directly. The Pokémon fell to its knees as he saw his opponent grinning.

"Now! Use Dig!"

The fire ape ranted, but obeyed his trainer as always, and began to make his way beneath the ground to surprise his opponent.

"Snorlax...keep an eye on every way. I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Now Red, let me show you one of the combos I made when I was back in my Sinnoh journey!" Ash said as he pointed to Red's Pokémon. "Now! **Underground Flare Blitz**!"

When Ash gave the order, the whole ground started shaking, as fire emerged from several points of the field. In seconds, the whole battlefield transformed into an inferno. Snorlax tried to use Blizzard to extinguish the fire, but that was his doom. With an amazing speed, Infernape appeared from behind him and collided with him, hitting him with the whole pressure of the Flare Blitz.

The Sleeping Pokémon went flying were his trainer was as swirls formed into his eyes. The battle was over for him.

"Snorlax can no longer battle! The winner is Infernape!" Brock took his position as the referee and announced the winner.

"Yes! Well done, Infernape!" Ash smiled.

"..." The fire ape just stayed in silence as he looked at the fainted Pokémon.

"No way..." This was Red's thought after seeing another of his Pokémon falling because of his opponent. "He has managed to overcome the strength of my Pokémon..." Red started to be nervous. "As much as I want him to pull out his best potential, I can't afford to lose, either..."

"**INFERNAAAAAAAAPE!**"

Everyone was surprised to see that Infernape roared with such intensity. What shocked them the most was that, with no reason, he charged once again as Snorlax, even though he had already lost the battle. He started hitting him with multiple Mach Punches, making the Sleeping Pokémon to groan in pain.

"What the...? Infernape, stop it!" Ash yelled to his Pokémon.

The Pokémon didn't obeyed, and threw Snorlax another Mach Punch, sending him flying because of the big impact. The Sleeping Pokémon then proceeded to use his trick move: Rest. As the Pokémon slowly recovered, Infernape used a Flare Blitz, with a power boost thanks to his Blaze ability, and clashed with Snorlax.

"Infernape, no!"

However, the impossible happened. The indestructible barrier started to crack. In seconds, Infernape passed through the barrier and hit Snorlax once again. Thanks to Rest, Snorlax was able to recover some energy, but he was extremely tired, since Infernape was putting him right in the edge of his abilities.

"...!" Red grabbed his Pokéball fast and returned the Sleeping Pokémon to it. He then grabbed his next Pokéball.

"Ash, what are you waiting for? Infernape is obviously angry! Return him to his Pokéball right now!" Brock was getting concerned about the fire ape going berserk.

What came next was also really shocking. Infernape looked at Red with a death glare, as he slowly approached to where he was. His intentions were pretty clear. He was going to hit Red.

"Infernape, stop it!"

The Pokémon didn't obey and continued to walk to where the young Champion was. However, he started to be faster with every step.

"Infernape, return!"

Ash tried to return him to the Pokéball, but Infernape dodged the energy beam really fast. Ash ran where his Pokémon was heading. Red just stood there, looking at the fire ape getting closer and closer.

"Red, look out!"

Infernape got where Red was, and was ready to impact direct hit into his face...when a mysterious purple aura surrounded Infernape. Apparently, now he couldn't move any part of his body, as if he was being holding back by a mysterious force.

"This should be able to stop you for a while." Red said calmly. "Espeon, nice job as always."

"Peon!" A Pokémon was hiding behind Red, who was revealed to be Espeon.

"What the...? When did you made him appear?" Ash asked, shocked since he didn't see that coming. By this time, he had already reached Red.

"When Infernape approached, my Pokéball was already in my hand, so I just summoned him behind me, and waited for me to give the order to counter..."

"But, you didn't do anything!"

"Espeon can read my thoughts." Red replied to his counterpart and then he looked at the fire ape. "And so can read his. Espeon, you know what to do."

"Peon!"

The Psychic Eevee evolution started emanating a purple aura, as his eyes were shining in a light blue color. The Pokémon looked at Ash's Pokémon directly in the eyes. Infernape tried not to look at them, but the psychic prevented him to move freely. Slowly, the fire ape's ferocious face started fading, and leaving an emotionless expression on the Pokémon's face.

"What have you done?" Ash was shocked to see his Pokémon like that.

"Espeon is entering into the deeps of his unconscious mind." Red replied to the trainer. "That way I'll know what is wrong with him."

"Wait, does that mean that...?"

"Yes." Red said as he touched his Espeon's head softly. "I'm going to enter to his mind."

With that said, Red closed his eyes, as he was slightly engulfed by the purple aura that Espeon emanated. Now, he was just standing there, but there was no movement coming from him. He was in the same state like Infernape.

Now, both Ash and the audience were left alone...

**Red's POV (Inside Infernape's mind)**

... ...

... ...

...So here we are...

...A white space...

"Espeon...come here..." _I called my Pokémon_.

"Peon!" _My Pokémon appeared near me, watching me with a confused look_. "Espeon!"

"This was going to be dangerous, so I don't think calling the other me here would be a good idea..."

"Peon..."

Well...that doesn't matter...

...Let's see what is really happening in here...

_...I started walking through the white space, looking for something that could be wrong with it_...

... ...

... ...

_As I started walking, I started seeing a tiny black spot in front of me. As I walked near to it, the spot was making even bigger, and I noticed that it was emanating a dark aura..._

...What's that?

*RAWRRRRRR!*

Hmmm...interesting...

In this whole blank world...a taint of **darkness** exists...

"Espeon, open a path for me..."

"Peon!"

_The light emanating from Espeon opened a small rift in the dark spot..._

Well...let's go...

... ...

... ...

_As I entered the portal, I started looking everywhere, looking for the 'thing'. The whole reason I'm here..._

_As I entered further into the abyss with my Pokémon, I started noticing a silhouette of a young man. Probably about my age. What intrigued me the most was that I noticed that this silhouette started repeating itself in every single corner of the strange dark world._

...This is not normal...this person doesn't look like the other me at all...

So who is it?

_Suddenly, a loud scream resonated in the whole space. As I looked in the center of it, the silhouette of the man was pretty clear. It was a purple-haired guy with black and blue clothes._

_It was more like a flashback. I started seen this man yelling at a young monkey Pokémon. Apparently, he was defeated in a battle and this trainer was scolding him for being defeated._

...What a foolish and arrogant trainer...

...But that little Pokémon is...?

... ...

"Peon!"

I know...let's look more...

_As my Espeon and I looked into the silhouette, the scenario changed, this time the mysterious trainer releasing the monkey Pokémon. No matter how much the Pokémon insisted to return with his trainer, the man just kept walking, without looking back..._

...You were abandoned by your trainer...

...Because he thought you were weak...

_Suddenly, another person came to the scene. I recognized this one perfectly. It was the other me. I looked as he offered the Pokémon to join his team. The Pokémon gladly accepted as tears were falling from his eyes..._

...So the other me took you as one of his own...

...Interesting...

_I kept looking at scenes. The Pokémon eventually evolved into his second stage, and encountered his former trainer in many occasions, making him go berserk with his inner ability...just like now..._

...Well...it doesn't surprise me...

...I've seen this once before...

Instability of power can slowly turn into...**madness**...

"_Red! You CAN'T defeat me now! My reign will last FOREVER! And you will be the first to be overpowered by my TRUE power!_"

... ...

... ...

... ...

"Peon?"

"It's ok...it's all in the past now..."

...I hope so...

... ...

_As I continued to look into the memory lane, I saw them. Two Pokémon, one I recognized as Ash's Pokémon, Infernape, and that horrible trainer's Pokémon. Both were tied in strength, it seemed like it would last forever. Until the other Pokémon make his move, apparently defeating Infernape. I was surprised to see that he managed to wake up again and unleash that powerful Blaze that managed to get the other me the victory of the battle._

So...in the very end, you defeated him...

...then why are you still with that pain?...

_I continued to look into his memories, and found something really interesting and really familiar. My silhouette. Apparently, Infernape was looking from afar when I had that first battle with the other me. Well, it seems that he is angry with me for having defeated his trainer so easily..._

...yet that doesn't give me a complete answer...

_As I continued looking, I recognized a notorious recent event: his fight against my Snorlax..._

The emotions that reside here are really familiar...

... ...

...Like when you battled your former trainer...

... ...

...When you started losing...you see _him_ instead of me...right?

Your anger started blinding your logic...

...And you became _this_...

_Suddenly, the whole world started shaking, as parts of it slowly shattered and disappeared into nothing..._

_...and I know why...I was here for a really long time..._

"Espeon!"

"I know. We should get out of here. The stability of this world is going to collapse..."

_I got out of the dark world, and entered once more to the white space in which I orinally appeared. However, it was also shaking as well...that was all that I needed to realize that I needed to get out of there._

... ...

**Normal POV (back at the battle field)**

"Ugh."

The young Champion stopped emanating the purple aura, as he touched his head, probably from the mental exhaustion of travelling into another mind...

"Wow, that was fast!" Ash, who was there the whole time, replied to his counterpart. "You've been just like a minute!"

"Not exactly..." The champion replied as he rubbed his hand on his Pokémon's head, who was also conscious. "But that's not the point. I know why he has lost it. It's because-"

"**INFERNAPE!**"

The fire ape roared, surprising everyone. He started moving with an amazing strength, even though he was under the effects of the Psychic type. It was clear that he was in pain, but he that didn't matter to him, as long as he managed to get a hit in the Pokémon.

"Other me. Your Pokémon seems to be bothered by the fact that he battled with another trainer that give him a hard time..."

"Your point being?"

"His former trainer."

"Paul..." Was all that Ash could reply to his Champion counterpart. "But why would he go berserk because of that? Infernape defeated Paul at the Sinnoh League!"

"His anger has blinded him. For the moment, he thinks he is battling this 'Paul', not me..." Red remarked as he looked at the angry ape.

"INFERNAPE!"

"You need to calm him down, other me." Red said as he put his hand on Ash's shoulder. "I've seen in his memories that you've done it before."

"INFERNAPE!"

"You must hurry, I must warn you. My Espeon can hold him back for a lot of time, but if he continues to force himself out of the attack, it can break him. Literally."

"Ok." Ash replied seriously to Red as he looked to his angered Pokémon. "Infernape! You don't need to do this anymore!"

"INFERNAPE!"

"Look. I know that Paul was really cruel back at the Sinnoh journey, but that time has already finished! You can already move on with that!"

"INFERNAPE!"

"Infernape, you are a great Pokémon, and I know that you are powerful, but you have to see that there are a lot of trainers out there in the world, with Pokémon that can probably defeat us easily!"

By this time, Infernape was already calming down.

"But that's why we get better. We improve our abilities to not fall! And even if we do, there's still a lot to learn, no matter how much one trains!"

"...!" Red was kind of shocked by hearing this last sentence.

"Please. I know that you're upset, but that doesn't mean you have to deal with it all by yourself." Ash approached his Pokémon and put his hand on his shoulder. "We'll get better so, one day, no one can ever defeat us, ok?"

After this, Red made Espeon deactivate his Psychic abilities, making Infernape to fall in the ground slowly. The fire ape was just looking at the ground, like if he was ashamed of looking at his trainer. But then he looked up, and nodded at Ash, getting up quickly, showing he was doing fine.

"Heh. You continue to surprising me, other me..." Red smiled.

"So..." Brock reached both trainers. "I don't know what to do now. Infernape has clearly violated the standards of traditional Pokémon battling, so disqualifying him would be the right thing..."

"No." The young champion looked at the former gym leader. "This battle will continue as it was left before this whole incident. That is...if Infernape can continue battling..."

"Infernape!" The Pokémon nodded to Red.

"Very well then. My next choice for the battle will be Espeon."

"Peon!"

"Well, then let's do this!" Ash grinned as he went to his position in the battlefield.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"That kid...he never ceases to surprise me." Prof. Oak smiled.

"Well, although we didn't see the whole deal, I think that Red was pretty cool with all that mind-reading." Max said.

"Who are you supporting? Ash or Red?" May hit his little brother's head with her fist. "And besides, weren't you afraid of Red?"

"Ouch! I'm just saying that it would be pretty awesome to read a Pokémon's mind, that's all!" Max replied to his sister.

"Ugh, it seems that another battle is setting in here." Gary facepalmed. Sibling issues were certainly not his department.

"Well, let's just see how the battle continues." Dawn sweatdropped.

**Returning to the battle...**

"Ok. Let's continue with this." Brock said as the referee. "This battle will be between Ash's Infernape and Red's Espeon. Are both contestants, ready?"

"Yeah!/Sure." Both counterparts replied.

"Ok. BEGIN!"

**In the next chapter...**

**Ash: Ugh. Espeon is really giving me a hard time...**

**Red: Hpmh. Don't expect to get another easy victory.**

**Ash: Let's go!**

**May: Their power is almost the same, but…Ash, I know you can do this.**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 11: Equals**

**Ash: The final battle is coming near. I can't afford to lose...**

**Red: The real battle...starts now, other me...**

**So that was Chapter 10! Hope you liked it =) I know I kind of destroyed the normal continuity of the chapters with a whole battle in each section. However, I started seeing that this whole battle pattern needed to break a little bit. I kind of wanted to make Red get a little of spotlight, aside from being the counterpart of Ash and the one who is testing Ash. Besides, I also kind of did it because of showing a little of Espeon's abilities. "Reading minds, huh?". Don't worry, that's not the only thing he can do, I can assure you that. **

**Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and I would like to know what you think about this chapter with some reviews. The story is slowly coming to its end, unfortunately, but don't worry. When everything is set up, I will make an official announcement to all of you, so stay tuned to see more of this amazing fic!**

**One more time, I would like to thanks everyone that has supported me so far, and I hope that you keep making me feel proud of what I'm doing here.**

**Oh, and before I forget about it. Not a lot of you know about it, but a couple of weeks ago, a user of FanFiction copied my story and changed a few things about it, and posted it as if it was his own original idea. Although the problem was already solved (thanks to Omega for reporting the fic to Eliminators.), I'm still shocked that someone dared to do that. Well, thank God that this was solved without so many problems. Please, if someone had thought of doing that (I'm saying this because the copycat was a reader of this fic), please don't do it. I'm not saying someone is thinking about doing it, but it's just a note, seeing what happened.**

**Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned for more action in The Parallel Challenger! Hollow, out!**


	11. Equals

**Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of 'The Parallel Challenger'! I'm really excited as always with this new chapter. Last time, I broke the normal battle pattern by making Red explore Infernape's mind with the help of Espeon. After discovering the darkness within him, Ash was able to calm down his Pokémon before it was able to do more damage to anyone like he did with Snorlax earlier in the chapter. **

**Thanks to ****beastmode953, Omegaxis1, ampplaca1, Imperishable Soul, DrakenSword0z, JJWalker, Trainer Theta, DracoBlitzen, Starlighz, Golfer2012, VitorioColeogne, Bellatrix Katrina Riddle, aloasa, Midnightmoon602, Elite Luther, Halos94 and ChloboShoka****.**

**Oh, and if you want to read another Pokémon fic about Ash and Red, read my friend ****Trainer Theta's Clash with a titan****. It certainly gives another perspective of Ash meeting the Kanto Champion, with the latter being completely silent. It's really interesting and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Ash-meeting-Red fics with a dark theme in the plot.**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 11: Equals**

"Ok. Let's continue with this." Brock said as the referee. "This battle will be between Ash's Infernape and Red's Espeon. Are both contestants, ready?"

"Yeah!/Sure." Both counterparts replied.

"Ok. BEGIN!"

"_Infernape is still weak because of that mental breakdown he had. Better start with something not so harsh._" Ash thought as he started with his orders. "Infernape, Flamethrower!"

"Shadow Ball..." The young Champion ordered his Pokémon.

Both attacks collided, forming a big explosion.

"Where is he?"

As Infernape and Ash looked for the opponent, Espeon came out of the dust as if it was nothing, confronting the Fire-ape really close.

"Shadow Ball."

The attack hit directly Infernape in the chest, sending him flying and crashing with a tree nearby, damaging him greatly. Espeon landed with grace as he waited for his opponent to make his move.

"Infernape are you ok?"

"Infer..." The Pokémon got up with difficulty and nodded to his trainer.

"Ugh. Try another Flamethrower!"

"Dodge." Red barely ordered his Pokémon.

Infernape unleashed the flames once again, heading where the Psychic Eeveelution was, but he just dodge it with ease and landed, looking Infernape directly in the eyes. While Infernape didn't get angry at Espeon for that, he was more like worried about how would he able to continue battling that way.

"_It's bad enough that Infernape can't move properly, but it's worse when this Espeon has an amazing speed and a great offensive." _Sweat started falling from Ash's hair.

Red saw Ash's insecurity once again, and tried to pressure him to see his reaction...

"Maybe it was a bad idea to make him continue the battle." The young Champion said to his counterpart. "Maybe you should return him to his Pokéball."

"_Red's right. Maybe I should..._"

"Infernape!"

Ash turned to see his Fire ape Pokémon smiling at him, while using his fist to show that he wasn't going to leave the battlefield until he had given everything. Ash smiled back at his Pokémon and then turned to see Red.

"Don't worry about it, Red! Infernape still has lots of energy to take Espeon on! You'll see!"

"_One thing is listening to yourself, and one thing is listening to your Pokémon. The one who can truly understand his Pokémon's feelings, hides a potential beyond anything._" The Kanto Champion smiled softly. "Very well then..."

**Meanwhile, with to the group...**

"While Infernape's power is amazing, the mental breakdown he just had a couple of minutes ago may have drained all his energy. I'm surprised that he is still standing." Prof. Oak remarked.

"Well, Ashy-boy certainly has to play his cards well. He may be with more Pokémon, but one wrong move and Red can overpower him completely." Gary replied.

"Why Infernape is continue fighting so hard? He is going to be hurt badly!" Dawn said with a worried tone.

"It's his pride." The Pokémon watcher replied to the Sinnoh coordinator. "There are stubborn Pokémon who won't back off until they give everything they got to show everyone else who's got enough power to win."

"Kind of showing his trainer's nature, right?" The youngest of the group, Max, said while grabbing his glasses.

"But Ash must be very careful. Psychics are really powerful against Fighting types, and for Ash's bad luck, Infernape is part Fighting type." Misty said to herself.

"_The battle could go either way...but I know Ash will pull through this...he always does...but..._" The brunette coordinator thought as she looked at Ash's opponent. "Red..."

**Returning to the battle...**

"Infenape, we can't afford to lose! Let's continue!"

"Infernape!" The Pokémon nodded to his trainer.

"Now, approach to Espeon as near as you can!" Ash ordered to his Pokémon.

"...!" Red was confused by his counterpart's reasoning, yet he couldn't doubt of his judgenment. "Espeon...get ready."

The fire ape started running as fast as he could to where the Eeveelution was. Espeon took a battle stance as he watched carefully the moves of his opponent. Every single step was analyzed by Espeon to see what would be the change of pattern within Infernape's movements.

And he got it.

"Psychic."

The Psychic Pokémon was engulfed by a purple aura, as his eyes became white and looked directly at the Fire ape.

"Infernape, now!"

Before the contact could be made between Espeon and Infernape, the latter, with great speed and ability, used a Mach Punch directly on the ground, cracking part of it, creating a bid fissure in the process. The fissure was going to reach Espeon, so he evaded it and lost concentration on the Psychic attack.

"...!"

"Now's our chance! Mach Punch!"

The Fire ape roared as his hand was engulfed within a white light, and managed to land a hit directly on the Psychic type's face. Espeon was sent flying because of the impact, but managed to land normally. Even though it wasn't that effective on him, Espeon still felt the massive power that Infernape possessed, and was now glaring at the Fire ape for doing so.

"Good job, Infernape!" Ash gave the thumbs up for his Pokémon.

"Infernape!"

"Hmph. Nice...it was a good way to counter the Psychic connection between both Pokémon..." Red smiled to his loyal Psychic type and then looked at Ash. "It won't work again, though."

"Heh. Thanks." Ash replied as he rubbed his nose.

"Let's continue. Espeon...**Shadow Ball**." The young Champion ordered.

"Peon!"

The Psychic type started forming a dark energy ball outside of his mouth really fast. However, everyone except Espeon's trainer was surprised to see that the energy ball was getting bigger and bigger, reaching the point that it was even bigger than Espeon itself.

"What the...?"

"Unleash."

From the gigantic dark energy, Shadow Balls emerged, taking different directions, but all heading where Infernape was. The Pokémon took a battle stance and waited for orders.

"Infernape, you know what to do!"

The Fire ape nodded as he unleashed a powerful Flamethrower as he jumped and started to rotate with a great skill. The flames that he emanated started to engulf him, eventually being completely surrounded by powerful blazes. The dark balls started hitting Infernape's flames, as he continue rotating producing more flames that hit the Shadow Balls, destroying them before colliding and making damage to Infernape.

"What an interesting defensive strategy..."

"That's Counter Shield for you." Ash smiled. "A move I come up with during my journey in the Sinnoh region!"

"Interesting." Red grabbed the brim of his cap. "However, you let yourself wide open."

"What?"

As the clash stopped, Infernape stopped rotating and landed in the floor. However, when he opened his eyes, Espeon was just a few inches from him. The Pokémon backed off, surprised of the sudden appearance of the Psychic type, but it was too, late. Espeon was engulfed by a purple aura that also engulfed Infernape, trapping it in the power of Psychic.

"Infernape, no!"

"Espeon, send him flying really high." The young Champion ordered.

The Psychic type nodded, and Infernape starting floating far and far away from the floor, so far away that everyone only saw him as a tiny dot in the sky.

"What are you going to do?" Ash asked worried.

"Finish this match. Espeon, bring him down." Red looked in a different way.

The Psychic type nodded, as he used his abilities to bring Infernape down, making him collide with the ground really hard, cracking it in the process. When it became visible for the others, Infernape was lying on the ground, almost unable to move. He tried to get up slowly, but he wasn't obtaining any good results.

"Infernape, you can do it!"

"Infer...nape!"

The Pokémon got up with difficulites, roared as the flames in his head starting growing, creating a flame as big as the Fire ape. The Pokémon's eyes turned slighty red, as he unleashed a powerful Flamethrower in the direction of Espeon. The Psychic type dodged it easily, but Infernape didn't want that attack to land in the first place.

"_Blaze once again, huh?_" Red thought.

"Infernape, are you going to be ok?" Ash asked to his Pokémon.

"Infernape!" Even with his power-up, the Pokémon turned to face his trainer, smiling and showing him he was going to put everything in this last moment. Ash realized that and smiled to his Pokémon

"Heh. Let's do it then. Infernape! Use FLARE BLITZ!"

"INFERNAAAAAAPE!"

The Pokémon started running really fast where Espeon was, charging at him as he was engulfed by powerful blazing blue flames. His face showed that he was going to give his all in this final attack.

"Hyper Beam."

The young Champion gave his order, and his loyal Espeon stared accumulating a big amount of energy outside his mouth, finally unleashing it as a big and destructive energy beam that headed directly to collide with the Fire ape.

"AAAAAAAAAAAPE!"

The Pokémon roared as he charged even faster, not backing off and completely sure without doubts that he was going to collide with the destructive and brutal attack.

Both attacks collided, resulting on a big explosion that made a lot of dust cover the battle field. When it became visible, Infernape was lying on the ground, with swirls on his eyes. He was fainted, meaning that the battle was over for him.

"Infernape can no longer battle! The winner is Espeon from Red's side!" Brock took his role as the referee once again.

"Infernape, you did a great job..." Ash said as he approached to his Pokémon, grabbing his Pokéball to return him.

"Infer..." The Pokémon tried to avoid eye contact with his trainer, feeling ashamed of his loss.

"You did what you could, Infernape. You were really hurt, and yet you continued fighting all the way." Ash gave his Pokémon a warm smile. "I'm really proud of you."

The Pokémon started emanating tears from his eyes and smiling, as he was returned to his Pokéball. Ash returned then to his side of the field.

"So things are equal for the moment." Ash said while looking to his counterpart. "Even though this is a serious battle, I can't help but get excited with all of this."

"Hmph." Red smiled. "Indeed. Anyway, let's continue. Select your next Pokémon."

"Alright." Ash had already made his choice. "Krookodile, it's your turn."

"Krooko!"

The Pokémon headed to his battle position, glaring at Red, probably still with his pride hurt from his last battle. Especially since his beloved sunglasses were burned by Charizard's Blast Burn.

"Oh, Krookodile. I forgot to give you something." He took out an object and threw it to his Pokémon.

"Krooko?" The Pokémon looked at it, and he noticed they were a pair of big new sunglasses, almost identical to the ones he had before the first battle with Red.

"You wouldn't be able to fight without those, aren't you? I know they aren't the ones who you originally had, but..."

Ash was interrupted by his Pokémon, who approached his trainer once again and patted his back while smiling, in sense of gratitude.

"Krookodile!" The Pokémon put on his new sunglasses as he looked with a confident look at the Psychic type.

"Very well, the match will continue. The next battle will be between Ash's Krookodile and Red's Espeon. Are both contestants ready?"

"Yeah!/Of course." Both counterparts replied.

"Ok, then. BEGIN!"

"During our last battle, your Krookodile was defeated by Charizard in a couple of minutes." Red remarked, but without any intention to be cocky or arrogant. "I believe that now that you're unleashing your full potential, his power will be WAY stronger than before."

"You can bet on it. Thanks to Brock and Prof. Oak's Max Revive, Krookodile is back with full power! Let's go, Krookodile!"

"Krooko!"

"Alright, use Dig!"

The Pokémon obeyed and made his way to the underground, leaving the Psychic type unable to see him.

"Espeon, track him."

"Peon!" The Pokémon nodded as he was surrounded by a purple aura and closed his eyes, like if he was feeling the whole environment. However, Espeon opened his eyes really quickly and backed off, as the ground collapsed under him.

"Too late! Krookodile, Dragon Claw!"

The Pokémon emerged from the underground, and with a great force, slashed the Psychic type, who groaned in pain as he flew to his side of the field, injured by the attack of the crocodile Pokémon, as the latter returned to his side of the field.

"Peon..." The Pokémon had a hurt expression on his face. Apparently, Krookodile's attack injured him more than expected.

"_He's lost certain amount of energy in the previous match. But that's not all._" Red looked at his opponent. "_The other me's Pokémon certainly has more power than before. Also, Espeon couldn't track him. That means he's half Dark-type. Psychic won't work on him._"

"Krookodile, nice job!" Ash said to his Pokémon.

"Krookodile!"

"You won't get an easy victory. Espeon..." Red said. "Shadow Ball."

"Peon!"

"Krookodile counter with Rock Slide!"

Krookodile charged his energy as rocks appeared, surrounding him and then unleashed them right at Espeon, who used the dark energy ball. However, Ash didn't know that he had made a terrible mistake.

"Now. Psychic." Espeon was surrounded by a purple aura by using one of his signature attacks.

"But Dark-types aren't affected by Psychic moves!" Ash said, confused with Red's counter.

"Correct. But your Rock-type move can be affected."

Using the power of Psychic, Espeon stopped the counter from Krookodile's side before they collided with the Shadow Ball, and made both the rocks and the Shadow Ball to head where the crocodile Pokémon was.

"Krookodile, dodge!"

The Dark-type reacted instantly, starting to dodge his own move with great skills, even using his sharp claws to destroy a few of them. When the Shadow Ball almost hit, Krookodile made a risky move, evading it with ease, but at the same time, he let himself wide open for a direct hit.

"Hyper Beam."

Since he had no way to defend himself, Krookodile received the whole attack coming from the Psychic-type, as he flew away and crashed with a rock nearby really hard.

"Krookodile!"

However, this only angered the crocodile Pokémon. No one saw the move coming, but Krookodile appeared from the wreckage of the crashing place, using his powerful Giga Impact attack and headed where Espeon was. The Eeveelution tried to stop it with his Psychic, but he was tired from firing that powerful Hyper Beam, and received the whole attack, crashing with Krookodile.

"...!" Was Red's reaction.

As the dust dissipated, Krookodile appeared, giving a V-sign with his fingers pointing at his trainer, and Espeon, who was near the Dark-type, lying on the ground, fainted.

"Espeon can no longer battle! The winner is Krookodile from Ash's side!" Brock announced.

"Krookodile, you did it!" Ash ran and hugged his Pokémon.

"Krooko!"

However, after Ash broke the hug, Krookodile showed a hurt expression, as he touched his belly. The Hyper Beam was tougher than he thought, and he had received a serious injury in there. He could continue fighting, but not as fast as before.

"Krookodile, are you ok?" Ash was worried about his Pokémon.

"Krooko...dile!" The Pokémon nodded, still with the hurt expression but he knew that he could still handle the next battle.

"Nice comeback." Red said to his counterpart. "Your Pokémon is certainly well-trained. Now you know that you didn't completely use your strength in our last battle."

"..." It was Ash's turn to stay in silence and hear what his counterpart had to say.

"I'm really impressed." Red smiled. "You have defeated four of my Pokémon, when in our last battle you barely made damage. You are definitely something else, other me."

"Well, I should thank you for that." Ash remarked.

"The battle should continue." Red said as he returned Espeon to his Pokéball. "Take a rest. You've done well."

"Krookodile, you should take a rest, too. I think Charizard is well rested now, and you will have your opportunity to rest." Ash said as he pulled out Krookodile's Pokeball.

"Krooko!" He refused to be returned as he turned to face Red.

"What? You don't want to be returned?"

"You already know what Pokémon I have left, other me." The young Kanto Champion said as he took out a Pokéball. "Therefore, you know which Pokémon is coming next."

As Red finished saying that, his Pokéball opened, the energy released took form of the orange flying lizard, Charizard, as he took flight and released a powerful amount of flames to the sky. Then he landed on the battle field, as he faced Krookodile.

"Krooko..." He glared at Charizard. He had obviously found a rival on him.

"Rawrrrr..." Charizard grinned. He expected to be released to battle Ash's Charizard, but he was also curious how strong was Krookodile now that his master had pushed his counterpart to unleash his real abilities.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"Infernape managed to tire Espeon, so Krookodile would strike later." Max remarked. "Only two Pokémon to go."

"But now is Red's Charizard we're talking about. He can control his inner ability, Blaze!" Dawn said.

"Now the real battle starts. Krookodile will have to use all his strength left to make his way through the battle." Gary said.

"_The final battle is coming near. Ash, I know you can do it._" May thought as she put her hand near her chest, in sense of worrying for his crush.

**In the next chapter...**

**Red: Your Pokémon was really hurt after our first battle. **

**Ash: Red is pushing me with everything he has. Krookodile...**

**Red: You haven't seen the whole power of my Charizard...**

**May: There's a power beyond Blaze?!**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 12: Pride**

**Ash: Krookodile! **

**Red: Blaze, the next step...**

**So that was Chapter 11! Hope you liked it =D As every chapter, I put a really good effort on this, so please, let me know what you think about the chapter through a review. I would really appreciate it. **

**Anyway, I've calculated the plot so far in chapters, and I think that the story will end in Chapter 16, so we have 5 more chapters to go! Sorry for everyone who was expecting more chapters, but that is as far as **_**this**_** fic can go. Like every time, thanks for your reading my fic, and hope you like how is developing so far. Well, better work on the next chapter! See ya! Hollow, out!**


	12. Pride

**Hi, FanFiction Members! This is HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of 'The Parallel Challenger'! Last time, the battle took its natural course again, with Ash's Infernape taking on Red's Espeon. Although the Fire ape tried hard (even with his body all damaged from the previous battle), and even pulled out tricks like the famous Counter Shield, he was unable to match Espeon's speed and psychic abilities. Krookodile, who was now fully recovered after the beatdown from the first battle with Red, took Infernape's place after his defeat and with great skills, managed to defeat the Psychic Eevee evolution. With two Pokémon left, Red summoned Charizard once again as his next Pokémon.**

**Thanks to ****JJWalker, Pokémon Guy 84, miclimp, Trainer Theta, Omegaxis1, HikariGaijin, DrakenSword0z, lucarioADV, ChloboShoka, Nom, Starlighz, ragebuster59, Rinoreiri Murino Hitsuzen, Red should win ****(This guy knows what he wants in the end of this fic XD),**** Starlight Constellation, Kilala-lover-forever, DracoBlitzen, sceptile rocks, WhiteKnightDragon, GhostyRose, by Sapphire and ****Tied to Machines-I'm One**** for the reviews. And also thanks to all of you who are reading the fic =)**

**Oh, and for doing advertisement, I would REALLY thank you if you checked out my friend ****Rinoreiri Murino Hitsuzen's Lost and Forgotten.**** His story is really good and mysterious! However, his efforts are getting unappreciated, so it wouldn't hurt if you checked on his story, and leave him one or more reviews if you can. You won't regret it. If you're an Eevee fan, and like dark-plot fics, THIS is the fic you've been waiting for.**

**Well, with no more interruptions, the chapter =D**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 12: Pride**

"Rawrr..."

"Krooko..."

The pressure was felt all around the environment. For the moment, the silence was filling the battlefield, with both opponents glaring at each other without any muscle of their bodies. Once again, both Pokémon were forced to clash with each other, but this time, it was personal...

...at least it was for the Dark-type Pokémon, who in the previous battle, he lost horribly to his opponent, and now, he had the opportunity to make things right...

"Hmm..." The young Champion looked at the piercing glare of his Pokémon, who was directed at the crocodile-like Pokémon. "This will be interesting. The pressure between our Pokémon is intense."

"Krooko!" The Dark-type Pokémon roared to the Kanto Champion.

"Calm down, Krookodile." Ash now turned to face Red, with a smile on his face. "Red, last time I failed and because of that, Krookodile was greatly damaged. But that won't happen this time! Krookodile will beat Charizard this time!"

"Hpmh." Red snickered. "Then show me how your Krookodile truly battles, other me."

"You got it!"

"If both contestants are ready, the next battle will be between Ash's Krookodile agaisn't Red's Charizard." Brock pointed at both sides and then raised his whole arm. "BEGIN, trainers!"

"Charizard, take flight." The Pokémon obeyed and sprayed his wings, taking a big boost and with that, he was already meters away from the floor. The orange flying lizard stopped his boost, and now he was floating, looking at the battlefield and waiting for his trainer's order. "Flamethrower."

"Krookodile, dodge by using Dig!"

The lizard unleashed a powerful amount of flames, directed to the Dark-type Pokémon. Lucky for the latter, he started digging the ground, and he managed to make his way underground, managing to dodge the Flamethrower just in time. However, the attack was really strong and it managed to burn that section of the ground, the most affected part being turned in to ashes.

"_Strong..._" That was Ash thought when he saw the zone impacted by the flames. "Krookodile, stay there until I tell you!"

"Hmm...don't think I'll wait your move, other me." Red said as he raised his arm. "Charizard, activate Blaze."

"RAAAAAAWR!" The orange lizard roared as his body was engulfed by a burning aura and, in a matter of seconds, he was now completely surrounded by the red aura, meaning that the unleash of his ability was now complete.

"_It's here...his Blaze ability..._"

"Flare Blitz." The Charizard from the young Kanto Champion roared as he, with a great speed boost, started making his way straight to the ground. The orange lizard's only point of vision was the battlefield, where Krookodile was hiding underground. "Collide with the ground and end it."

"_He's going to crash directly?!_" Those were the thoughts of everyone watching the match.

"Krookodile! Now!"

*CRASH*

"Ugh!" Ash covered his face with his arm to protect his eyes from the big amount of dust violently released. Red just grabbed the brim of his cap and pulled it down, covering part of his face. The battlefield was already really damaged from the previous fight, but now the only thing that divided the counterparts was a big crater, generated from the powerful blow that Charizard made when he impacted on the ground. The orange lizard emerged from the crater, barely harmed from the crash, and started to take flight.

"Dragon Claw!"

"...!" Both Red and Charizard were surprised when Ash yelled this. Before he took too much height to reach, the crocodile emerged from behind the lizard, and slashed him really hard. Since he didn't see it coming, Charizard couldn't escape unharmed from the attack to his back and, more important, to his wings.

"...Blast Burn."

"Krookodile, get out of there!"

Charizard turned around to face the crocodile Pokémon, and started to form a big amount of flames within his mouth. The aura that surrounded him also headed to Charizard's mouth, filling the flames with more energy. Both Ash and his Pokémon freaked out with the idea of the ultimate Fire attack ability ENHANCED with the Blaze ability.

Krookodile turned around, and used the energy of the Giga Impact to try to escape from the flames. Charizard unleashed his most deadly attack, burning down everything around its path. Krookodile started accelerating even more and managed to find an opening and managed to barely dodge the attack.

"Krooko!"

However, the attack was so strong that even without direct contact, part of Krookodile's arm had burns. The Pokémon groaned in pain as he landed as far as he could from its opponent, and held his arm with his hand, as he looked fiercely at the Charizard form the Champion counterpart.

"Good. If you hadn't dodged that attack, your Pokémon would be out."

"_I'm sure Krookodile could have resisted the attack, but I can't allow him to have a significant amount of damage._" Ash gritted his teeth. The battle between the hot-headed rivals was just starting.

**Meanwhile, with the others...**

"No way! The battle has just started and the battlefield is already completely destroyed!" Dawn remarked, somewhat worried.

"What an amazing power that Charizard has. The simple idea of one Pokémon incrementing his power with such results...it almost scares me that someone possesses that kind of Pokémon." Prof. Oak couldn't help but sweat a little from the looks of the battle.

"Red made his Charizard to activate Blaze from the very beginning. Is he planning on ending the battle quickly?" Misty was somewhat confused with Red's new strategy. "_In the previous battle, he took his time to battle. He must be still testing Ash's abilities..._"

"I have to say that it impresses me that Krookodile is still up after this. Last time, a normal Blast Burn defeated him instantly, while this time he was able to dodge most of the attack enhanced with Charizard's Blaze." Gary said camly, but then he looked at Krookodile. "_I can't understand it. How did Ash's Pokémon managed to get so strong after a single day? Is Red..._"

**Returning to the battle...**

"_Krookodile has no space to dig anymore, and Charizard still has the upperhand with the sky." _Ash thought. "Krookodile, are you alright?"

"Krooko!" Even with one of his arms hurt, the Pokémon still had lots of energy to continue battling.

"Very well then. Now, use Stone Edge continuously!"

"Dodge."

Krookodile was engulfed by a white aura, that released two chains of gray rocks that surrounded him. He released them as his opponent, the dragon-like Pokémon, spread his wings once again and made his way into the sky, evading the rocks that were heading to him. Krookodile started running and moving to different directions, according to the pattern Charizard was doing in order to evade the attack.

"Air Slash."

Charizard formed a couple of energy saws with his wings, and strongly directed them to counter the rock-type move. Even with the rocks having more physical power, the attack was still so strong that it was equally powerful to stop the rocks. Some burning aura from the Blaze also merged with the flying-type attack, melting some of the rocks the attack countered.

"Flare Blitz."

"Krookodile, back off and use Giga Impact to counter!"

"WHAT?!" This was what everyone thought when Ash ordered his Pokémon to put his life in risk once again. The first time the Giga Impact and the Fire Blitz collided, Krookodile resulted really hurt after the clash. Now that Charizard was enhanced with the Blaze, doing that was beyong insanity. The Pokémon was surrounded by a purple energy and started to rush where Charizard was, ready to collide with the Pokémon once again.

"Krookodile, keep moving! Increase your speed!"

"Krooko!" The Pokémon didn't even hesitate. As his trainer finished his order, his speed increased greatly.

"_What are you planning to do, other me?_" Red was into his thoughts, too. "Increase the speed. Don't back off." The champion was ready to follow his counterpart's plan. He was interested in know how would he react to this situation right now. The dragon-like Pokémon increased not only his speed, but also the flames that surrounded him. His only point was Krookodile. Nothing else in his surroundings.

"_Just wait for it..._"

They were separated by 100 meters.

"_A little more...wait for it to appear..._"

Now by 50 meters.

"_Almost there..._"

20 meters. The perfect opening appeared.

"_THAT'S IT!" _Ash's eyes widened. "NOW!"

10 meters before the clash, Krookodile grinned as he changed the direction of his attack. Everyone was surpised to see that the Dark-type Pokémon moved aside not to evade the attack, but to clash it from another angle. Both Pokémon clashed in what seemed a massive explosion. A big amount of smoke formed, as the Dark-type Pokémon emerged from it, somewhat unharmed but not with dangerous wounds.

On the other hand, Charizard emerged with a face showing pain. They were shocked to see that the young Champion's Pokémon's left side was with a great wound. Not dangerous, though, but it was still a significant amount of damage.

"Good job, Krookodile!"

"Krooko!" Part of the Pokémon's body was somewhat covered in burns, but he didn't mind, because the battle was going for his side and, if things went well, the pride he lost in his previous battle would be recovered.

"I saw it." The Kanto prodigy replied to this world's counterpart. "The opening. You also saw it. The flaw."

"Charizard concentrates too much energy in an attack that sometimes he leaves little openings to attack." Ash said calm. "Although I have to admit that luck was by my side." Ash rubbed the back of his head, laughing in the process.

"_No. It was no luck. You are a natural battler. No one would ever be able to see an opening like that with the situation his Pokémon was into._" Red smiled proudly. "It seems we need to take this to the next step."

"Huh?"

"Charizard." Red looked directly to his Pokémon. "Unlock 33,3 percent."

The dragon-like Pokémon nodded to his trainer, and in a blink, his eyes turned crimson red and he roared greatly, even making the ground shake with his big roar. The orange aura that surrounded him started to resonate violently, as the colors started changing from light orange to red. The aura started slightly to take the form of a dragon. One of the most prominent features of this new power was that scars started to suddenly appearing in some parts of Charizard's body. The eyes of the Pokémon were burning at this point.

Even though he had been dominating so far, the Dark-type Pokémon couldn't help but sweat to see his opponent's new looks. Ash himself was also getting nervous about the rest of the battle.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

"Ugh! What just happened?!" Ash was shocked.

"It is simple. I made him unlock more of his power." Red replied calmly as always.

"More of his power?" Ash asked confused and then looked somewhat angry. "Does that mean you've been letting me have the upperhand?"

"Yes and no." The Champion counterpart tried to calm down his other self. "You see, Charizard is unable to release the complete power of his Blaze."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, he can, but that would mean he would have to wait until he is greatly damaged to unlock it." Red continued his explaination. "However, since his power is incredibly powerful and destructive, I wanted him to control it, so it wouldn't go berserk. That's why when Charizard activates Blaze, he isn't activating all of it, but merely a part of it."

"A part of it?"

"My Charizard's Blaze has been divided into different phases for him to be able to control it." The Kanto Champion used his hands to express himself. "The first phase is the one your Grass-type Pokémon fought before being defeated, and the one your current Pokémon is fighting. In this one, he is using 33,3 percent of the whole Blaze."

"The next phase is the one you're seeing right now. His aura becomes even more furious and violent, taking form like a dragon. Your Charizard seems to have the same power as my Charizard has right now. 66,6 percent of Blaze's power."

"Wait...that would mean..."

"The last phase, with 99,9 percent of his Blaze ability unleashed, is my Charizard's true **Blaze**." Red grabbed the brim of his cap. "To be honest, you're the only one that made me have to unlock the second phase."

"_Three phases...the next being even more powerful and destructive than the last one..._" Ash gritted his teeth. "_Red...just who in the world are you?_"

"I've not let you any kind of advantage. You are just pushing me to use an even greater power." Red looked at his counterpart with a piercing look. "So, shall we continue?"

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"There's a power beyond Blaze?" May asked worried.

"Red continues to astonish me. The control his Charizard has over his inner ability is actually to lock his whole destructive power!" Prof. Oak gulped.

"_As I thought, Charizard is only using part of his whole power...but only 66,6 percent...Ash, stop goofing around and take this battle seriously like you never did before..._"

**Returning to the others...**

"Krookodile!" Ash called his Pokémon somewhat worried.

"Krooko?"

"As you can see, Charizard has increased his energy two times. If it was hard before, it will be even harder now." The Pallet Town resident told his Pokémon, but then he smiled. "But that doesn't mean we're going to give up, right?"

"Krooko!" The Dark-type Pokémon gave his trainer thumbs up.

"Very well! Let's take him down!"

However, as soon as Ash finished saying that, the new powered-up Charizard was already in front of Krookodile, while holding a big amount of flames in his mouth.

"Flamethrower."

The attack hit directly at the Dark-type, pushing him down and send him flying while being covered in violent flames until he collided with a rock wall that was formed because of the Fire-type's Flare Blitz impact in the ground. Charizard roared once more, showing a sign of great confidence in his victory. The attack was even more powerful than the Blast Burn itself because of the power up he had now within his body.

"KROOKO!"

Krookodile emerged from the debris of the impact with great force. However, everyone saw that the attack had clearly being horribly hurtful for him: his belly had severe burns, now both of his arms had burns, and parts of his sunglasses were broken and burned.

"Krooko..."

"Krookodile!" Ash was really worried about his Pokémon.

"Hmm?" Red was confused and amazed at the same time. "_The first time, the Blast Burn defeated him, but now that he received an attack even more powerful, he is still refusing to give up..._"

"Krookodile...are you ok?"

"Kroo...ko!" The Pokémon was in great pain, but he refused to be treated like if he was a weakling. He stood up firmly, and looked at his rival, who replied the look with a cocky smile.

"This will be the last shot." Red proclaimed as he pointed to his counterpart's Pokémon. "_Show me your resolve, other me's Pokémon..._"

"Blast Burn." The violent red aura that surrounded the dragon-like Pokémon started to accumulate a big ball of energy within his mouth.

"Krookodile, let's try our new combination!" Ash claimed.

"Use Stone Edge!" The Pokémon obeyed and after being engulfed by a white energy, he was surrounded by two chains of grey rocks. "Now, use Dragon Claw!" The Pokémon was clearly tired and the burns in both of his arms were hurting him, but since it was the last attack, with all his might, he managed to make his right hand to shine in a brightly blue color, especially in the fang. "Now, let's face it to its core! Use Giga Impact and try to focus its energy on your right arm!" The Pokémon used his most deadly attack once again, but this time, he tried to focus all his energy on his left arm. Even though it was horribly painful, he managed to make it: he was surrounded by the grey rocks of the Stone Edge, and his right arm was now a combination of blue and purple auras that emanated a calm and violent energy at the same time.

"Krookodile! GO!"

The Pokémon took some steps back, and took a big impulse and charged directly at the Pokémon of the Kanto Champion. The Blaze Pokémon stopped charging his attack, and unleashed it in a mass inferno that burned everything in its path. The Dark-type Pokémon didn't hesitate and continued directing his attack, starting to change the angle, making his energy powered claw as the main front of the clash.

"Krookodile! Dragon Claw Impact!"

Both deadly attacks clashed. However, they weren't equal. As much as he put his effort on that attack, Krookodile was completely surrounded by the hell flames that Charizard released from his mouth. The dragon-like Pokémon continued his attack, and there was no sign of the Dark-type Pokémon.

"No! KROOKODILE!"

"KROOKOOOOOOOO!"

Shocking everyone, even Red, the crocodile Pokémon emerged from the flames, with burns all over his body. He should be fainted by now, everyone thought, but Krookodile's eyes never stopped to show that burning passion that made him not losing his consciousness. Krookodile surrounded Charizard, and while yelling his name strongly, he striked the big attack in his claw on Charizard's left wing. The Pokémon stopped unleashing the flames, and groaned in pain as he lost his focus and backed off to his side of the field. The Dark-type Pokémon landed on the floor after the clash.

"Krookodile..." Ash just looked at his Pokémon.

"..."

"RAAAAAAAAAWR!" Red's Charizard roared as he landed near his trainer, grinning. The damage he received was nothing serious.

"No way..." The Pallet Town trainer said as he looked to his standing Pokémon. "Well, but Krookodile is still up, right?"

"..." The Pokémon didn't reply.

"Krookodile?"

Ash approached to his Pokémon and noticed something interesting. His Pokémon had already lost consciousness when he landed, but he was still standing: he refused, even to the very last moment, to fall on his knees once again.

"Even though Krookodile is standing, he is still unable to battle. The victory goes to Red's Charizard!" Brock took his position as the referee once again and announced the winner.

"Krookodile...you did a great job. Thank you." Ash smiled softly as he hugged his Pokémon and returned him to his Pokéball. "You deserve a good rest."

"..." Red looked at the scene in silence as he smiled. "_A Pokémon with an unbreakable resolve. I believe he has managed to recover his pride, right?_"

"Rawrrr..." Charizard replied to his trainer. His opponent indeed gave him a good battle, and he was now ready to take on the next one.

"Red." Ash looked at his counterpart as he grabbed his next Pokéball. "We're now with the same Pokémon left. Now that certain time has passed, it's time for him to show up again."

"And I'm interested to see a clash between them, other me." The Kanto Champion said as his Pokémon took a battle stance.

"Alright, let's do this! Charizard, I choose you!"

**In the next chapter…**

**Red: Both of our Charizard possesses a big potential within their abilities.**

**Ash: I have already got this far…losing is NOT an option!**

**Red: Charizard...it's here...**

**May: They're almost there...yet their power...is almost equal.**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 13: Inferno**

**Red/Ash: Blast Burn!**

**So that was Chapter 12, people! I hope you liked it =) So I guess the battle will get intense next time, since it will be the clash of both Charizard belonging to the counterparts. The final battle is coming near, people! Stay tuned to see more of The Parallel Challenger as it reaches its end in Chapter 16! That means four more chapters to go, people! See you later! Hollow, out!**


	13. Inferno

**Hi, FanFiction Members! This is HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of The Parallel Challenger! In the last chapter, the rivalry between Charizard and Krookodile came to an end! Krookodile had the upperhand at first, but then Charizard activated his secret Blaze ability powers, that allowed him to win the match! Even though Krookodile lost, he earned Charizard's respect and he recovered his pride from the last battle! Now, with both trainers with only two Pokémon, even same ones, the clash between the Charizard will finally take place!**

**Also, thanks a lot for the reviews! We've reached to surpass the 200 reviews! Thank you so much for your support =) I'll continue giving my best in writing the chapters that are left until the fic reaches its conclusion. As I did with the previous 100 reviews celebration, I'll dedicate this chapter to the one who got the 200****th**** review: my good friend Trainer Theta.**

**As usual, thanks to ****Omegaxis1, lightiningblade49, lucarioADV, Golfer2012, HikariGaijin, JJWalker, christi1212, Pikachulover25, Trainer Theta, Starlighz, nostalgicCyanide, 1 Guest, sceptile rocks, Animestar531, PMD Gates to Fan Fiction ****(cool name =P)**** and major.**** And also thanks for everyone who's reading the fic. Hope you're enjoying it so far.**

**Now, with no more interruptions, the fic.**

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 13: Inferno **

"Alright, let's do this! Charizard, I choose you!"

Those were the words the Pokémon Trainer yelled as he threw the Pokéball, which instantly opened, releasing a burning energy that became the orange-lizard Pokémon. The dragon-like Pokémon opened his menacing-looking eyes, roaring and releasing a powerful Flamethrower to the air, as he always did when summoned to the battlefield. His body slowly started to be engulfed by a red, burning aura that resembled a dragon. The power of Blaze was still active, but since he had time to rest, he was now ready to battle again. This time, to a formidable opponent that could actually surpass his own ability.

"RAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

Both Charizard roared to each other, as they exchanged glares. The tension was clearly between them. Both powerful, full-evolved fire Pokémon, ready to engage in battle. Both sides were having their own mixed feelings.

Ash's Charizard, even though he stayed in his Pokéball, saw fragments of the battle. Especially when his current opponent unleashed his secret Blaze ability. He likes challenges, especially if they are tough ones, so he was now looking forward into defeating his counterpart. Red's Charizard was waiting from this since Ash's Charizard unleashed his Blaze for the first time against Venusaur. The power he had managed to unleash was something that amazed him. Their powers were practically the same, but as many Charizard, he was NOT going to admit defeat.

**Meanwhile with the others...**

"Both Charizard look equally powerful and equally scary..." Dawn got somewhat nervous.

"Ash's Charizard is currently with his Blaze ability activated, so his powers have augmented dramatically, like we saw when he released his Blast Burn against Red's Venusaur." Prof. Oak analyzed the situation. "...But can he compete with Red's Charizard, who can control his own destructive power at will?"

"The probabilities are that Red's Charizard has more condition to win the battle." Max said while taking notes on a notebook. "But I know that if anyone can surpass the probabilities is Ash. I know his Charizard will win."

"Ash..." May thought as she grabbed her half of the Terracota Ribbon, wishing that it would give good luck to Ash, who possessed the other half.

**Returning to the battlefield...**

"Ok, let's continue! The next battle will be between Red's and Ash's Charizard. Are both trainers and Pokémon ready?" Brock announced as the referee.

"Yeah!/ Of course."

"RAAAAWR!"

"Very well. BEGIN!"

"Charizard, let's do this! Flamethrower!" Ash ordered his Pokémon.

"Counter with Flamethrower..."

Both Charizard unleashed his attacks at the same time, colliding into a big mass of flames on the center of the battlefield. They continued that for a few seconds, and the attack finally exploded, creating a great amount of dust blinded both dragon-like Pokémon.

"Charizard, take flight!" The young trainer gave his next command.

Charizard spread his long wings and took a big boost, making his way to the vast sky while leaving a path of ashes on his way. On the other side, the Kanto Champion looked at his own Charizard and nodded to him, telling him to continue the battle at air. The other Charizard also spread his wings and took flight, following his counterpart at high speed.

"Continuing Flamethrower..."

"Charizard, dodge and wait for my call!"

The Champion's Charizard started with a continued attack of Flamwthrowers, vicious flames that were enhanced by the 66.6% Blaze ability, directed at every direction the counterpart Charizard was heading. However, Ash's dragon-like Pokémon didn't give up like that. Since he was also enhanced by his own inner ability, his speed also increased dramatically, with his speed right now could match Sceptile's. Charizard dodged the attacks with great skills, and tried to create a pattern by looking at his opponent's movements.

"Charizard, go up as far as you can go!" Ash ordered.

"_He's got something planned..._" Red thought. "Intercept him."

Ash's Charizard changed the course of his direction and headed right up, heading far and far away from the battlefield and from the others watching the battle. Red's Charizard grinned and used his speed to try to overpower his counterpart. Both Fire-types clashed with an amazing speed and in synchrony.

"RAWRRR!"

As they started fading away from the sight of the audience, only two shining objects could be seen, colliding with each other. Both Charizard snickered, realizing that their battle had just started. They headed far and far away, reaching the highest place they could reach without losing too much oxygen.

As they stopped, both glared at each other, seeing that since their trainers weren't there, the battle would not be stopped unless one of them fainted for good, and started slashing themselves with everything they got. Both Charizard were now proving which one was the strongest using only their bare strength.

"RAAAAWR!"

Red's Charizard was the first to strike. He made his hand a tight punch and hit Ash's Charizard right in the face. Even though it was a powerful blow, Ash's recovered his balance almost instantly and slashed Red's on the belly. Then they started following each other, trying to overcome the other one's speed, clashing and clashing like if they were two swords with the same power. Red's Charizard grinned and released a big amount of flames directly to his counterpart. Ash's Charizard dodged and did the same. Red's panted a little as he dodged the powerful blows. Even though the oxygen was running out as they reached higher and higher places, their attacks were still incredibly strong.

Ash's Fire-type used a powerful Steel Wing shot, knocking his opponent for two seconds. Red's Pokémon coughed and roared back. He then proceeded to increase his inner flames, hitting Ash's Pokémon in his wings, making him lost his balance and start falling down the sky. He defended himself using his flames as trace of burning flames, but that didn't work out well.

Both Charizard continue falling down, continuing with the blazing rampage that started to be seen by the trainers.

"Charizard! Look out!"

"Push him down."

Ash's Charizard gave a quick moveset, using his wings to take a powerful boost that made him evade the powerful blow Red's wanted to try out. Ash's grinned, as he boosted once again, colliding with his counterpart, grabbing him tightly and heading to the ground, crashing it really hard.

"Charizard!" Ash looked for signs of consciousness on his Pokémon.

"..." Red had his usual calmed state, watching and analyzing the battle with some excitement.

Two big roars were heard from the crater, as two burning shadows emerged from it. The two Fire-types landed on their respective sides, as they glared at each other, smiling at the same time: they were enjoying the battle to its fullest.

"Your Charizard was able to keep track of mine, even though he is somewhat exhausted from his previous battle." The Kanto Champion remarked. "Outstanding."

"Heh, your Charizard is great, too! Obviously, since he is your Pokémon!" Ash said with his usual cheerful attitude. "However, my Charizard still got a lot of surprises for you!"

"RAWWWWWWR!" Was the response of the cheerful trainer's Pokémon.

"That is good to know, other me, since the real battle starts now." Red claimed as he grabbed the brim of his cap firmly. "Charizard. Full power."

"RAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

The ground tremble as the Pokémon in Red's side of the 'battlefield' was surrounded by a vicious crimson aura that engulfed him almost completely. Ash and the audience were dumbstruck when they saw the Fire-type Pokémon take flight, illuminating his path as if he was a second sun. The vicious crimson aura surrounding Charizard started taking form of a big, long dragon that moved the sky with his prescence. It wasn't big as one of the legendary Pokémon gods, but his appearance had changed notably. His skin was covered by black scars that were more prominent within his face. His muscles grown a bit, making him looking bigger than usual. But the most fearful feature were hi eyes, that were releasing fire, literally speaking. His glare had become even more penetrating than before, and the crimson color just made him look like a monster now.

"That is...his strongest form..." Ash was speechless as everyone else. The looks from Red's Pokémon were far more powerful than they imagined. Even his own Charizard was somewhat nervous about fighting this new upgraded opponent.

**Meanwhile, with the others...**

"That is Red's Charizard strongest form...using the 99,9% percent of his power..." Prof. Oak was speechless, muttering these words over and over again. "_Red's Pokémon would be excellent to study..._"

"He gained another power boost. Can Ash really outstand that?" Misty asked.

"Red's abilities to train his Pokémon are unbelievable...how long it took him to train his Pokémon to be so...awfully powerful?" Gary started sweating. "_Talking about his ability...it's getting really hot in here..._"

As he said that, he grabbed a Pokéball in his bag and threw it to the sky, opening in the process and revealing his starter Pokémon, Blastoise.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked confused.

"The flames that Red's Charizard is emanating are more than just mere flames. Better keep prepared for the worst situation." The young scientist replied to the others, as he looked at Ash's counterpart, who nodded and gave him a 'good decision' look.

**Returning to the battle...**

"Don't you feel anything?" Ash was sweating as well, since his opponent was emanating an extremely burning heat out of his body, and yet Red acted as normal.

"I feel a little. Being in a cold place for a long time helps you adapt to different kind of temperatures. Besides, I already experienced this kind of heat before." The Kanto Champion replied as calm as always. "Charizard, smash him."

"WHA-?!"

In a blink of an eye, Red's Charizard appeared in front of Ash's Pokémon and instantly gave him a big punch in the face, making him collide with the ground.

"RAAAAAWR!"

"Charizard, get out of there!"

Ash's Charizard raised from the floor, only to see the big figure of his opponent, who punched him once again, giving him a powerful uppercut blow, making him fly into the sky. Ash's Pokémon recovered its balance, and roared back. Red's Pokémon grinned, as he took flight, following the other dragon-like Pokémon. Ash's Fire-type used a Blast Burn to hold the other back, but his opponent countered it with a big Flamethrower, that obliterated the Blast Burn and hit Ash's Charizard, making him lose his balance.

"Charizard, no!"

"It's useless."

Red's Charizard vanished after the attack, leaving his opponent confused looking out for him. Luck wasn't on his side, as Red's outpowered Ash's speed, reaching a higher point in the sky, and by the time Ash's Pokémon reacted, he was brutally hit by Red's Charizard's tail, making him fall to the ground and crash it with it really hard.

"Charizard..." Ash was speechless. In a matter of seconds, his Pokémon had been totally pummeled by his counterpart.

"Rawwrr..." Ash's Fire-type never let his pride go down, as he managed to get up, with several wounds and hits all over his body, especially on his face and belly.

"_He didn't even use a move. He just used his bare strength..._" Ash gritted his teeth. If he didn't come up with something, he would be in real trouble. "Charizard, try another Flamethrower!"

"Receive it."

The big amount of flames clashed with the Fire-type from the Champion's side, not affecting him at all. However, Ash noticed that his counterpart's Pokémon directed the flames into another point of his body: his mouth.

"What the...?"

"Return it."

The blazing inferno Fire-type grinned, as he 'swallowed' the red and vicious flamethrower, just to unleash it back at his opponent with its power doubled and also its size.

"RAWWWWR!" Ash's Charizard tried to hold back the flames, but he was pushed by them, being eventually overthrown by them, causing him a big amount of pain and burns. After the attack ended, Charizard fell to the ground, almost defeated.

"_What's wrong? Maybe I was mistaken?_" Red thought as he saw the Pokémon of his counterpart standing with everything he got once again, but it was clear that one attack would make it all. "_...No. It's not that. His power still needs to be awakened_."

"Charizard, I know you can do it!" Ash, seeing that his Pokémon never ceased the flame of his resolve, cheered him to continue fighting until he fainted completely.

"RAAAAAAAWR!" Charizard roared once more, showing that he is still able to battle.

"No matter what Fire-type attack you use, my Charizard will make it his own attack and return it to you with its power doubled." Red tried to make some pressure on Ash to make him make a quick decision. "Since it has become like this..."

"RAAAAAAAAAWR!"

"Flamethrower."

The Kanto Champion's Pokémon's eyes looked firmly at his counterpart as he used the flames within the aura surrounding him, forming a big sphere of crimson energy. At the moment he released it, the sphere divided in several and long flames that were directed right at the Fire-type from Ash's side.

"CHARIZARD! SHOW HIM WHO YOU ARE!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

Neither Ash nor Red expected what happened after that. Ash's Charizard opened his mouth, and received the attack directly. However, it didn't affect him. In fact, he did the same trick his opponent used: swallowing the flames. What was shocking was the part when Charizard **refused** to let go of them, instead of returning them back at his opponent as a counter.

"Charizard, what are you doing?" Ash couldn't help but sweatdrop a bit.

"...!" Red, on the other hand, was surprised with the reaction the Pokémon had.

*gulp* That was the sound that everyone heard as Charizard finished 'eating' the flames. He closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for something. That something came 5 seconds later, when he opened his eyes abruptly, as his body was surrounded by a big flame that reached the skies. Everyone covered his eyes, as the light emanated was so shiny that it could blind someone for a long period of time.

"RAAAAAAAAAWR!"

The 'magma' tower that surrounded Charizard stopped flowing violently, as the Pokémon within the blazes appeared. His appearance remained somewhat the same, but the area near him was completely burned. His pupils were no longer visible, and his red flames became of a dark crimson color.

"Charizard...what happened?" Ash was shocked to see his Pokémon right now.

"Interesting. A power-up." Red remarked as he analyzed the body of his counterpart's Pokémon. "_Using Charizard's power to improve his abilities...A nice comeback, I suppose. I guess it's time for his last test..._"

"Charizard, way to go!"

"RAAAAAAWR!"

"_Hmm...Charizard._" The Kanto Champion looked at his Pokémon. "_Use your final attack. The match will be over after this._"

"Raaawr..." Red's Pokémon nodded, understanding what his trainer wanted him to do.

The Pokémon spreaded his wings as all the flames within his body reunited within his mouth. As that happened, all features in his body, such as scars and burned marks disappeared. Eventually, he returned to his original appearance, but now, a big magma sphere was being held outside his mouth.

"Blast Burn..." Ash recognized that Red was going to use all his might in this final attack. "Two can play that game! Charizard, start charging!"

"RAAAAWR!"

Ash's Pokémon followed his trainer's orders, as he did something similar as Red's Pokémon did: his vicious flames started accumulating in his mouth, as all traces of the flames his Ultimate Blaze generated disappeared from his body. Like Red's, his body returned to its natural form, leaving a big sphere of flames that were held outside his mouth.

Now both Pokémon looked exactly the same, except that Red's Charizard had fewer wounds than Ash's. Both Pokémon were looking at each other with a great resolve, knowing that they were going to give their all in this final attack.

"CHARIZARD...!"

"...Blast..."

"BURNNNNN!/Burn!"

When they gave their commands, both blazing flying figures released their ultimate attacks that collided into a big mass of flames. The clash was so intense that both trainers were sweating from the extreme heat their Pokémon were releasing that spread vicious flames that reached parts far away from the battle field. Some flames landed on part of the forest, making some trees burn and turn into mere ashes.

"Blastoise, use Protect!" From the audience, Gary ordered to his Pokémon, as it created a big barrier that surrounded them. Brock managed to join them on time so he could be protected as well.

However, the heat was so intense that the barrier surrounding them started to slowly crack.

"The power of those two is insane! The heat is making the barrier to shatter!" Max said.

"We need to cool it! Misty, use your Water-types!"

"Leave it to me!" Misty said as she summoned some of his Pokémon. "Alright! Everyone, use Water-gun!"

The Pokémon used their Water moves to wet the barrier, and keep it cool. The flames were still pushing harder, so the Water-types kept their attacks constantly without holding back.

"CHARIZARD!"

"..."

Both trainers couldn't stop seeing the clash that was being held at the moment. Even though the heat was horrible, it didn't stop the Pokémon, or their trainers. The clash continued, both flame rays trying to become dominant to the other and, after a minute, it seemed that Red's Charizard was getting the upperhand.

"_Charizard is still tired, and he received a lot more damage than Red's._" Ash gritted his teeth. The power of Red's Charizard was overpowering his own.

"RAAAAAAAAWR!"

They didn't know why it happened at that time, but what was about to happen could be considered as a miracle.

"RAAAWRRAWAR!"

Out of blue, Red's Charizard stared showing an expression of extreme pain in his face. He started agitating, without losing his balance and continuing his attack on his opponent. However, it did affect the power of its attack: he lost his upperhand, and now both attacks were tied as in the beginning.

"What?" Red wondered why his Pokémon reacted that way.

"He seems like he is in pain. But why would that be...?" Ash was also surprised about the sudden reaction, but he then noticed something odd:

Red's Pokémon's left wing was now covered in a painful wound, concentrated in a certain point.

"Could it be...?"

...

"_No! KROOKODILE!"_

"_KROOKOOOOOOOO!"_

_Shocking everyone, even Red, the crocodile Pokémon emerged from the flames, with burns all over his body. He should be fainted by now, everyone thought, but Krookodile's eyes never stopped to show that burning passion that made him not losing his consciousness. Krookodile surrounded Charizard, and while yelling his name strongly, he striked the big attack in his claw on Charizard's left wing._

_..._

"Krookodile's attack on Charizard's left wing!" Ash now realized why his previous Pokémon pushed himself really hard to give his final strike.

It was all for this moment.

"Charizard, Krookodile gave us a chance! Let's take advantage of it!"

"FULL POWER!"

Charizard used his remaining Blaze ability to give his Blast Burn a tiny but significative power boost to his attack. Red's Charizard was pushed back, but he resisted being defeated so easily. However, Ash's Pokémon changed the angle of his attack by a little, directing his attack at his opponent's weak point. Due to this, Red's was forced to make a sudden movement that made him lose his balance for a second, but that was enough to change the whole course of the battle.

The flames from Ash's Charizard's Blast Burn eventually overpowered Red's barely, as it clashed directly at the Pokémon, giving him a critical hit, since he was left unprotected from the attack.

An explosion happened, hurting both Pokémon in the process and, when the fog dissipated; it revealed the two Pokémon lying in the ground, without energy to continue.

"Charizard..."

"..."

"Well...that was unexpected..." Brock's voice could be heard from the side of the audience. The barrier managed to handle the heat, so everyone was left unharmed by the attack. "Both Charizard can no longer battle. This round is left as a tie!"

"Then that means...we only have one Pokémon left." Ash muttered.

"I didn't expect that. I guess I underestimated your Pokémon in our last match. He managed to hurt Charizard enough to keep him unable to concentrate in the final hit." Now Red was getting somewhat excited, since the next battle would decide the whole match.

"Charizard, you did well. I'm so proud of you, my friend. Get some rest." Ash returned his Pokémon to his Pokéball, as Red did the same.

Both trainers looked at each other.

A lightning pierced the other's eyes.

They knew. They knew that what was going to come...would be the end.

**In the next chapter...**

**Ash: This is it! The final battle!**

**Red: Now that this is the last battle, I can say I'm really looking forward how this battle will develop.**

**Ash: I won't lose! All my friends are here to support me! **

**Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger**

**Chapter 14: The Final Volt**

**Well, that was Chapter 13 for you! I'm very sorry for the delay. College is being really annoying, so I didn't have time to write the chapter. I hope next chapter won't take much time as this one. Studies above everything, right? Well, hope you liked it. I'm hoping it was amazing and really exciting, but right now, the REAL deal starts now. Both with only one Pokémon, which is their starters! Well, time to go. Don't forget to review so I can know what you liked about the fic and what you didn't. Just saying, but my English is not the best, so sometimes I can miss in some spots at grammar or spelling. Should I get a Beta Reader? Nevermind. Well, hope you enjoyed it and let's see what happens in the next chapter. Hollow, out!**


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